be-

English

/bɪ/

prefix
Definitions
  • (rare) By, near, next to, around, close to.
  • (rare) Around; about.
  • (rare) About, regarding, concerning, over.
  • (rare) On, upon, at, to, in contact with something.
  • (rare) Off, away, over, across
  • (rare) As an intensifier; i.e. thoroughly, excessively; completely; utterly.
  • (rare) All around; about; abundantly; all over.
  • (rare) Forming verbs derived from nouns or adjectives, usually with the sense of "to make, become, or cause to be".
  • (archaic) Used to intensify adjectives meaning "adorned with something", often those with the suffix m.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English be- inherited from Old English be- (be-, by, near) inherited from Proto-Germanic *bi- (be-, by, at, by-), *bi (near, by, around, about, be-) inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (at, near, on, upon, against).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*h₁epi

Gloss

at, near, on, upon, against

Concept
Semantic Field

Spatial relations

Ontological Category

Other

Kanji

近

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms