# bes
## English
### Etymology 1

From Middle English bes.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /biːz/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːz
* Homophone: bees

#### Verb

bes
* (now chiefly dialectal) third-person singular simple present indicative of be
** 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares.
** 1916, The Windsor Magazine - Volume 44, page 353:"An' he bes free times as old as herself," he wailed, " an' ugly as a squid ! But he bes rich — rich as any marchant — an' for the bread an' the fixin's an' the gold she bes takin' 'im."
** 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be.
* (dialectal, nonstandard) Present tense inflected form of be: am or are.
** 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares.
** 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be.

##### Usage notes

Into the Early Modern English period, be was still sometimes inflected like regular verbs in the ordinary present indicative (i.e. "they be", in addition to "they are"), although "he bes" was uncommon (compare "he beeth"). Today, such inflected forms are limited to the alternate, dynamic / lexical conjugation of be described in its Usage notes.

##### Synonyms

* is

#### References

* ↑ Henry Sweet, A Primer of Historical English Grammar (1893), page 88: The use of be in the pres. indic. is still kept up in Early MnE: I be, thou beest, they be, etc.; the form he bes is, however, very rare.

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin bes.

#### Noun

bes (plural besses)
* (historical, numismatics) A bronze coin of the Roman Republic, worth two thirds of an as.

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

bes
* plural of be (“Cyrillic letter”)

### Etymology 4
#### Noun

bes
* Alternative form of beth (“Semitic letter”)

### Anagrams

* BSE, EBs, ESB, EbS, SEB, SbE, Seb

## Aromanian
### Alternative forms

* besu

### Etymology

Inherited from Latin vissiō. Compare Romanian băși.

### Verb

bes first-singular present indicative (past participle bishitã)
* to fart

#### Synonyms

* bishinedz

#### Related terms

* bishiri / bishire
* bishit
* bishinã

## Balinese
### Romanization

bes
* Romanization of ᬩᭂᬲ᭄

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbes]

### Etymology 1
#### Noun

bes
* plural of be (“the letter B”)

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin basium, from Proto-Indo-European *bu. Compare Occitan bais, Spanish beso, Italian bacio.

#### Noun

bes m (plural besos)
* kiss
    Synonyms: petó, besada

##### Related terms

* besar

### Etymology 3

Inherited from Latin versus. Doublet of vers.

#### Noun

bes m (plural bessos)
* (nautical) strip of cloth used as part of a sail or a flag

### Further reading

* “bes” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “bes” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Chipewyan
### Noun

bes
* knife

## Cornish
### Alternative forms

* bys

### Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *bɨd, from Proto-Celtic *bitus.

### Pronunciation

* (Revived Late Cornish) IPA: [beːz]

### Noun

bes m (plural besow)
* (Revived Late Cornish) world

### Mutation
## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bɛs/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: bes
* Rhymes: -ɛs

### Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch bes, from Old Dutch besi, from Proto-Germanic *basją. Compare English berry, Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍃𐌹 (weinabasi, “grape”).

#### Noun

bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n or (dialectal) bessie n)
* berry
    Synonyms: (dated or regional) bei, (dated or regional) bees, (dated or regional) bezie

##### Derived terms

* aalbes
* bessenjenever
* bessensap
* bessenstruik
* blauwe bes
* bosbes
* braambes
* goudbes
* jakhalsbes
* jeneverbes
* kruisbes
* lijsterbes
* loganbes
* rijsbes
* rode bes
* veenbes
* vogelbes
* waterbes
* witte bes
* zwarte bes

##### Descendants

* Afrikaans: bessie (from the diminutive)
* → Papiamentu: bèshi (from the diminutive)
* → Jersey Dutch: bääśe (from the diminutive)

### Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

#### Noun

bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)
* (music) B flat

### Etymology 3

Backformation from besje, from older bestje, from bestemoer or bestemoeder (“grandma, old woman”).

#### Alternative forms

* best

#### Noun

bes f (plural bessen, diminutive besje n)
* (chiefly diminutive) an old woman
** a. 1525, anonymous author, “Lied van de twee koningskinderen”, in Haerlems Oudt Liedt-boeck, 27th edition, published 1716:Met een quam daer een besje, Een oude fenynde bes,But then there came an old woman, An old mean hag,

## Jamaican Creole
### Adjective

bes
* superlative degree of gud: best
** 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, 2 Timoti 4:9:Du yu bes an mikies kom si mi.Do your best and make haste to come see me

## Kankanaey
### Pronunciation

* (Standard Kankanaey) IPA: /ˈbəs/ [ˈbɨs]
** IPA: (parts of Bauko, Sabangan, & Tadian) /ˈbəh/ [ˈbɨh]
* Rhymes: -əs, (parts of Bauko, Sabangan, & Tadian) -əh
* Syllabification: bes

### Noun

bës
* act of looking the clothes of a dead person

#### Synonyms

Southern / Central :
| Mt. Province | Tadian | bes, (Lubon) beh, (Banaao, Cadad-anan, Cagubatan, Dacudac, Lenga, Pandayan) boh |
| Mt. Province | Bauko | bes, (Banao, Bila, Otucan) beh |
| Mt. Province | Sabangan | bes, (Tambingan, Supang, Data, Lagan, Losad, Poblacion) bes, (Bun-ayan, Pingad, Bao-angan, Camatagan, Napua, Gayang, Capinitan, Busa, Namatec) beh |
| Northern / Applai |||
| Mt. Province | Sagada | bes, (Tanulong) ghes |

#### Derived terms

* manbes

### References

* Morice Vanoverbergh (1933) “bes”, in A Dictionary of Lepanto Igorot or Kankanay. As it is spoken at Bauco (Linguistische Anthropos-Bibliothek; XII)‎, Mödling bei Wien, St. Gabriel, Österreich: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitschrift „Anthropos“, →OCLC, page 83

## Kashubian
### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bъzъ.

### Etymology

* IPA: /ˈbɛs/
* Rhymes: -ɛs
* Syllabification: bes

### Noun

bes m inan
* elder (Sambucus)

### Further reading

* Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “bez”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎
* “bes”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

## Latin
### Etymology

From a derivative of *duō (“two”) (compare bis) + as.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈbes/, [ˈbɛs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈbes/, [ˈbɛs]

### Noun

bes m (genitive bessis); third declension
* two-thirds, or a two-thirds part of any unit
* a coin worth two-thirds of an as

#### Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

### Derived terms

* bessālis

### References

* bes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

## Malay
### Etymology

From English base.

### Noun

bes (Jawi spelling بيس, plural bes-bes, informal 1st possessive besku, 2nd possessive besmu, 3rd possessive besnya)
* (chemistry) base, any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds, having bitter taste, that turn red litmus blue, and react with acids to form salts.

#### Alternative forms

* basa (Indonesian)

### Further reading

* “bes” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

## Middle English
### Etymology

A version of bith with the third-person singular ending replaced with -es as in other verbs (in some dialects) and the vowel of the infinitive been leveled in.

### Verb

bes
* Alternative form of bith

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Verb

bes
* passive form of be

## Old Irish
### Alternative forms

* bas

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [bʲes]

### Verb

bes
* third-person singular present subjunctive relative of is

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

## Papiamentu
### Etymology

From Portuguese vez and Spanish vez and Kabuverdianu vés.

### Noun

bes
* times as in "three times is too much"
* occasion, instance

## Polish
### Pronunciation

* (Lesser Poland):
** (Goral):
*** (Żywiec) IPA: /ˈbɛs/

### Noun

bes m inan
* (Żywiec) Alternative form of bez

### Further reading

* Leon Rzeszowski (1891) “bez”, in “Spis wyrazów ludowych z okolic Żywca”, in Sprawozdania Komisyi Językowej Akademii Umiejętności, volume 4, Krakow: Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, page 353

## Serbo-Croatian
### Alternative forms

* bijȇs (Ijekavian)

### Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *běsъ (“evil spirit”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bêːs/

### Noun

bȇs m (Cyrillic spelling бе̑с)
* rage
* fury
* madness
* mania
* tantrum
* wildness
* ferocity
* rampage

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbes/ [ˈbes]
* Rhymes: -es
* Syllabification: bes
* Homophones: ves, (Latin America) vez

### Noun

bes m (plural beses)
* bes (two-thirds of an as (Roman measurement), around 219.3 grams)

### Noun

bes f pl
* plural of be

### Further reading

* “bes”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Verb

bes
* passive infinitive of be
* present passive of be

## Tagalog
### Pronunciation

* (Standard Tagalog) IPA: /ˈbes/ [ˈbɛs]
* Rhymes: -es
* Syllabification: bes

### Etymology 1

Clipping from English best friend.

#### Noun

bes (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜐ᜔) (colloquial, women's speech, gay slang)
* endearing term of address for one's friend, especially a close friend or bestfriend: friend; best friend

##### Usage notes

* The word is typically used by women, and may sound effeminate when used by men.

##### Related terms

* beshie

##### See also

* prend

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish vez, from Latin vicis (“change, alternation”). Doublet of beses.

#### Noun

bes (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜐ᜔) (Cavite)
* time; instance; repetition
    Synonyms: ulit, beses

### Further reading

* “bes”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

## Western Yugur
### Numeral

bes
* five