# buy
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”).
Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to build, settle”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.

### Pronunciation

* enPR: bī, IPA: /baɪ/
** (US, Received Pronunciation) IPA: [baɪ]
** (Standard Southern British) IPA: [bɑj]
** (Canada) IPA: [baɪ]
*** (dialectal) IPA: [bəj]
** (General Australian) IPA: [bɑɪ]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK); “to buy”:(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪ
* Homophones: bi, bye, by

### Verb

buy (third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buying, simple past bought, past participle bought or (archaic, rare, dialectal) boughten)
* (transitive, ditransitive) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.
    I'm going to buy my father something nice for his birthday.
** 1793, Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography:Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
* (transitive, ditransitive) To obtain, especially by some sacrifice.
    I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.
    You just bought yourself an assault charge!
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:23:Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
* (transitive, archaic) To suffer consequences for (something) through being deprived of something; to pay for (something one has done).
** 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:VVhat villaine, doſt ſtrike me? I ſweare by the rood, As I am Iacke Strawe, thou ſhalt buy it with thy blood.
* (transitive) To bribe.
    He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.
* (transitive) To be equivalent to in value.
    The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.
* (transitive, informal) to accept as true; to believe
    I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!
** 2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber Ltd, page 201:People like to say that dead people look asleep, and maybe she would have bought that under different circumstances.
* (intransitive) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a drink, meal or gift)
    She buys for Federated.
    Let's go out for dinner. I'm buying.
* (poker slang, transitive) To make a bluff, usually a large one.
    Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff.

#### Alternative forms

* buie (archaic)

#### Synonyms

* (obtain in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), purchase
* (accept as true): accept, believe, swallow (informal), take on
* ((intransitive) make a purchase): make a buy

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “obtain in exchange for money”): cheap (obsolete), sell, vend
* (antonym(s) of “accept as true”): disbelieve, reject, pitch

#### Derived terms

* bought and paid for
* bought priesthood
* bring-and-buy
* bring-and-buy sale
* buyability
* buyable
* buy a dog and bark oneself
* buy and pay for
* buy a pup
* buy a ticket to
* buy back
* buy-back
* buy-bust
* buycott
* buy down
* buy-down
* buyer
* buy in
* buy-in
* buying guide
* buying power
* buying temperature
* buy into
* buy it
* buy low, sell high
* buy off
* buy-off
* buy off on
* buy out
* buy-out
* buy out from under
* buy over
* buy side
* buy someone off
* buy someone out
* buy some time
* buy straw hats in winter
* buy the dip
* buy the dips
* buy the farm
* buy the rabbit
* buy the rack
* buy time
* buy to let
* buy-to-let
* buy-to-play
* buyup
* buy up
* buyware
* buy when it snows and sell when it goes
* buy when it snows, sell when it goes
* buy with one's ears
* buy wolf tickets
* buy woof tickets
* buy yourself a hat
* can I buy you a drink
* collective buying
* cross-buy
* don't buy green bananas
* forbuy
* forebuy
* group buying
* I don't want to buy anything
* impulse buy
* impulse-buy
* leveraged buy-out
* money can't buy happiness
* multibuy
* must-buy
* outbuy
* overbuy
* panic-bought
* panic-buy
* prebuy
* rebuy
* shop-bought
* store-bought
* that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee
* unbuy
* underbuy
* vote buying
* why buy a book when you can join a library
* why buy a book when you can join the library
* why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free

#### Related terms

* aby

#### Descendants

* Sranan Tongo: bai
* Tok Pisin: baim

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Noun

buy (plural buys)
* Something which is bought; a purchase.
    At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.

#### Antonyms

* sale

#### Derived terms

* buy boat
* buydown
* buyout
* buyrate
* impulse buy

#### Translations
### References

* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “buy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “buy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

### Anagrams

* BYU

## Chinese
### Etymology

From English buy.

### Pronunciation

* Cantonese (Jyutping): baai$^1$
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: baai$^1$
*** Yale: bāai
*** Cantonese Pinyin: baai$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: bai$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /paːi̯⁵⁵/

### Verb

buy
* (Hong Kong Cantonese) to accept (an idea)
** 2001, 尋秦記 [A Step into the Past], episode 1, spoken by 麥偉健 (麥長青 [Evergreen Mak Cheung-ching]):
       sau$^1$ seng$^1$ aa$^3$, ngo$^5$ m$^4$ baai$^1$ nei$^5$ aa$^3$. [Jyutping]
       Shut up. I'm not buying your [suggestion].

## Scots
### Alternative forms

* beh (Dundee)

### Etymology

From Old English bycgan

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (unstressed) [bəi], (stressed) [baɪ]

### Verb

buy (third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buyin, simple past bocht, past participle bocht)
* buy

## Tatar
### Noun

buy
* length

## Wolof
### Etymology

Related to guy (“baobab tree”).

### Noun

buy (definite form buy bi)
* baobab fruit
* sweet drink made of this fruit by adding water, sugar, milk, and other ingredients