# bé
## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin bene.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbe]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -e

### Adverb

bé
* well

#### Usage notes

* The form ben is used when it precedes the adjective, adverb or verb form that it modifies, and bé is used in all other cases.

#### Derived terms

* ara bé
* ben bé
* benestar
* o bé

### Noun

bé m (plural béns)
* good, valuable object
* satisfactory grade (at school)
* good (quality of being good)
* virtue

### Related terms

* bo, bon

### Further reading

* “bé” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “bé”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “bé” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “bé” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Champenois
### Alternative forms

* biau

### Etymology

Inherited from Old French bel, from Latin bellus.

### Pronunciation

IPA: /be/

### Adjective

bé m (feminine belle, plural bés)
* (Troyen, Rémois, Langrois) beautiful

### References

* Daunay, Jean (1998) Parlers de Champagne : Pour un classement thématique du vocabulaire des anciens parlers de Champagne (Aube - Marne - Haute-Marne)‎ (in French), Rumilly-lés-Vaudes
* Baudoin, Alphonse (1885) Glossaire de la forêt de Clairvaux‎ (in French), Troyes

## Czech
### Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈbɛː]

#### Interjection

bé
* baa (the cry of a sheep)

##### Derived terms

* bečet

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

bé n (indeclinable)
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

##### Derived terms

* béčko

##### See also

* (Latin-script letter names) písmeno; á, bé, cé, dé, é, ef, gé, há, chá, í, jé, ká, el, em, en, ó, pé, kvé, er, es, té, ú, vé, dvojité vé, iks, ypsilon, zet

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /be/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

bé m (plural bés)
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

### Further reading

* “bé”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Hokkien

* For pronunciation and definitions of bé – see 買 (“to buy; to purchase”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 買).

## Hungarian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈbeː]
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: bé
* Rhymes: -beː

### Etymology 1
#### Noun

bé
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.
* (music) bemol, the sign ♭
    Hypernym: módosítójel
    Coordinate terms: kereszt, kettős kereszt, kettős bé, feloldójel

##### Derived terms

* kettős bé

### Etymology 2
#### Adverb

bé
* (poetic or dialectal) Alternative form of be (“in”)

##### Derived terms

* bé- (verbal prefix, alternative form of be-)

### See also

* (Latin-script letter names) betű; a, á, bé, cé, csé, dé, dzé, dzsé, e, é, eff, gé, gyé, há, i, í, jé, ká, ell, ellipszilon / elly / ejj, emm, enn, enny, o, ó, ö, ő, pé, kú, err, ess, essz, té, tyé, u, ú, ü, ű, vé, dupla vé / vevé, iksz, ipszilon, zé, zsé. (See also: Latin script letters.)

### Further reading

* (letter name): (1): b in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* (adverb): bé in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* bé, partly redirecting to b and be in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

## Icelandic
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pjɛː/
* Rhymes: -ɛː

### Noun

bé n (genitive singular bés, nominative plural bé)
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

#### Declension
## Irish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bʲeː/

### Etymology 1

From Old Irish bé, from Proto-Celtic *ben, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn (“woman”).

#### Noun

bé f (genitive singular bé, nominative plural béithe)
* (literary) woman, maiden
* beautiful woman
* muse (inspiration for artist)

##### Declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
bé
béithe
vocative
a bhé
a bhéithe
genitive
bé
béithe
dative
bé
béithe
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an bhé
na béithe
genitive
na bé
na mbéithe
dative
leis an mbé don bhé
leis na béithe :

##### Derived terms

* Bé (“Muse”)
* bé choille (“nymph”)
* bé-iasc (“damselfish”)
* folt bé (“maidenhair”)

##### Related terms

* bean (“woman”)

### Etymology 2

From Latin bē.

#### Noun

bé
* The name of the Latin-script letter b/B.

#### See also

* (Latin-script letter names) litir; á, bé, cé, dé, é, eif, gé, héis, í, jé, cá, eil, eim, ein, ó, pé, cú, ear, eas, té, ú, vé, wae, ex, yé, zae
* Note: The English names are also widely used by Irish speakers.

### Mutation

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

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bé”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 bé”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bé”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
* “bé”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

## Old Irish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bʲeː/

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *ben, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn (“woman”).

#### Noun

bé f
* (poetic) woman
    Synonyms: banscál, ben, frac

##### Derived terms

* bé carna (“harlot”)

##### Descendants

* Irish: bé

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Alternative forms

* ·bǽ, ·bée

#### Verb

·bé
* second/third-person singular present subjunctive conjunct of at·tá

### Mutation

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

### References

* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 bé”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Portuguese
### Alternative forms

* béé, bééé (etc.)

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈbɛ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈbɛ/

### Interjection

bé
* (onomatopoeia) baa (cry of sheep)
    Synonym: mé

## Romagnol
### Etymology

From Latin bibō, bibere.

### Verb

bé
* to drink

### Noun

bé m or f (invariable)
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

#### See also

* (Latin-script letter names) lètra; a, bé, cé, dé, e, ëffe, ge, àcca / àca, i, i lóng, càpa, ëlle, èmme, ènne, o, pé, cu, ërre, ësse, té, u, vé, dópi vé / dópi vu / vu dópi, ics, i gréc / ìpsilon, zéta

## Tetum
### Noun

bé
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

## Vietnamese
### Etymology

From Old Chinese 庳 (*beʔ) (SV: ti, tì).

### Pronunciation

* (Hà Nội) IPA: [ʔɓɛ˧˦]
* (Huế) IPA: [ʔɓɛ˨˩˦]
* (Saigon) IPA: [ʔɓɛ˦˥]
* Audio (Saigon):(file)

### Adjective

bé • (𡮣, 𡭬, 𡮤)
* small; little; tiny
    Synonym: nhỏ
    Antonyms: lớn, to
* little; very young
    hồi bé ― when I/he/she/we was/were little
    Synonym: nhỏ
    Antonyms: lớn, to
* (of sound) small, barely audible
    Synonym: nhỏ
    Antonyms: lớn, to

#### Derived terms

* bé bỏng (từ láy)
* bé nhỏ
* bé tí
* bé tị
* bé xíu
* cô bé
* em bé
* nhỏ bé

### Noun

bé
* Short for em bé (“baby”).
* (informal, men's speech) girl; chick

#### Derived terms

* bé bi

### Pronoun

bé
* you, little child
* (informal) you, young person
* (informal) you, young girl

### See also

* trẻ

## Xârâcùù
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ᵐbe]

### Noun

bé
* brother