# bee
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbiː/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Homophones: b, be, Bea
* Audio (UK); “a bee”:(file)
* Rhymes: -iː

### Etymology 1

From Middle English bee, from Old English bēo, from Proto-West Germanic *bijā, from Proto-Germanic *bijō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey-.

#### Noun

bee (plural bees or (dialectal) been)
* A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.
** 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge […].
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:An angry Wasp th'one in a viall had, / Th'other in hers an hony-laden Bee.
** 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:Can there be a more formall, and better ordered policie, divided into so severall charges and offices, more constantly entertained, and better maintained, than that of Bees?
** 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 17:Ariell: / Where the Bee ſucks, there ſuck I, / In a Cowslips bell, I lie, / There I cowch when Owles doe crie, / On the Batts backe I doe flie / after Sommer merrily. / Merrily, merrily, ſhall I liue now / Vnder the bloſſom that hangs on the Bow.
** 1657, Samuel Purchas, “The Excellency of Bees”, in A Theatre of Politicall Flying-Insects. […], London: […] R. I. for Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, page 1:Bees are the moſt excellent of all Inſects vvhatſoever, and expreſſe both vvorth and vvonder in all their vvaies: […]
** 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 12”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:He stood across in the other garden, beside a bush of pale Michaelmas daisies, watching the last bees crawl into the hive.
** 2012 March 31, “Subtle poison”, in The Economist:Bees pollinate many of the world’s crops—a service estimated to be worth $15 billion a year in America alone.

##### Synonyms

* king of insects

##### Hypernyms

* pollinator

##### Derived terms

* Africanized bee
* Africanized honey bee
* alkali bee
* antibee
* apple-bee
* apple bee
* artificial bee colony
* bee assassin
* bee ball
* bee balm
* bee baw babbity
* bee beard
* bee bearding
* bee beetle
* bee bite
* bee-brained
* bee-bread
* bee bread
* beebrush
* bee candy
* beedom
* bee-eater
* beefarm
* bee farm
* beefarming
* bee farming
* bee fly
* bee glue
* bee gum
* bee hawkmoth
* beeherd
* beehive
* bee-hive
* beehood
* bee hoon
* bee hotel
* beehouse
* bee hummingbird
* bee in one's bonnet
* beeish
* beekeeper
* beekind
* beeless
* beelike
* beeline
* bee-line
* beeling
* bee louse
* beely
* beemageddon
* beeman
* beemaster
* bee moth
* beemother
* bee orchid
* bee pirate
* beepocalypse
* beeproof
* bee purple
* bee sage
* beeskep
* bee's knees
* bee sting
* bee-stung
* beeswarm
* beeswax
* beeswing
* Beetown
* bee tree
* bee up one's ass
* bee-utiful
* bee vacuum
* bee violet
* bee wine
* bee wolf
* beewort
* beey
* beeyard
* black bee
* blood bee
* blue-cheeked bee-eater
* bumble bee
* bumble-bee
* bumblebee
* busy as a bee
* busy bee
* carder bee
* carpenter bee
* Chronic bee paralysis virus
* chronic bee paralysis virus
* common carder bee
* coppice mining bee
* cuckoo bee
* digger bee
* dog-bee
* European bee-eater
* European dark bee
* follow the bee
* green bee-eater
* have a bee in your bonnet
* hive bee
* honeybee
* honey bee
* horse-bee
* humble-bee
* Italian bee
* Kashmir bee hawkmoth
* ke-mo sah-bee
* killer bee
* leaf-cutter bee
* leafcutter bee
* leaf-cutting bee
* like a bee in clover
* little green bee-eater
* long-faced miner bee
* mason bee
* meat bee
* mining bee
* mumble-bee
* nameless bee disease
* nanobee
* orchid bee
* plasterer bee
* poppy bee
* put the bee on
* queen bee
* queen bee acid
* quilting bee
* resin bee
* sand bee
* southeastern blueberry bee
* spotted bee balm
* squash and gourd bee
* squash bee
* stingless bee
* sting like a bee
* sweat bee
* upholsterer bee
* violet carpenter bee
* vulture bee
* Wallace's giant bee
* worker bee
* working bee

##### Related terms

* Beowulf (possibly)

##### Translations

Abenaki: ômwa
Abkhaz: ашьха (ašxa)
Adyghe: бжьэ (bźɛ)
Afar: diidaleyta
Afrikaans: by (af)
Agutaynen: boyong-boyong
Ahom: 𑜇𑜢𑜤𑜂𑜫 (phüṅ)
Albanian: bletë (sq) f, mjalcë (sq) f
Aleut: aanasnaadax
Ambonese Malay: niri
Amharic: ንብ ? (nəb)
Andi: пера (pera)
Antillean Creole: myèl, mouch a myèl, miyèl
Apache:
Western Apache: gosnih
Arabic: نَحْلَة f (naḥla), نَحْل f (naḥl) (collective)
Egyptian Arabic: نحل m (naḥl) (collective), نحلة f (naḥla) (singulative)
Gulf Arabic: نحلة f (naḥla)
Aragonese: abella (an) f
Archi: тӏантӏ (tʼantʼ)
Armenian: մեղու (hy) (meġu)
Aromanian: alghinã f
Assamese: মৌমাখি (moumakhi) (common), মধুকৰ c (modhukor) (uncommon)
Asturian: abeya (ast) f
Avar: на (na)
Aymara: mamuraya (ay)
Azerbaijani: arı (az)
Balinese: nyawan
Banjarese: wanyi (bjn)
Bashkir: бал ҡорто (bal qorto)
Basque: erle (eu)
Bats: ფუტკარ (puṭḳar)
Bau Bidayuh: bonyih
Belarusian: пчала́ f (pčalá)
Bemba: buci
Bengali: মৌমাছি (bn) (mōumachi)
Bhojpuri: मधुमाखी (madhumākhī)
Bikol Central: putyukan
Bislama: bi
Blin: laxla
Breton: gwenan (br) f (collective), gwenanenn (br) f
Brunei Malay: penyangat
Buginese: awani
Bulgarian: пчела́ (bg) f (pčelá)
Burmese: ပျား (my) (pya:)
Buryat: зүгы (zügy)
Cahuilla: 'evéexa'
Carpathian Rusyn: пчола f (pčola)
Catalan: abella (ca) f
Cebuano: putyokan
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵜⵉⵣⵉⵣⵡⵉⵜ f (tizizwit)
Central Dusun: pomosuon
Central Melanau: anyi
Chamicuro: kasenujsi
Chechen: накхармоза (naqarmoza)
Cherokee: ᏩᏚᎵᏏ (wadulisi)
Cheyenne: háhnoma
Chichewa: njuchi
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蜜蜂 (mat$^6$ fung$^1$)
Dungan: мифыр (mifɨr), фыр (fɨr), мифынзы (mifɨnzɨ)
Eastern Min: 蜜蜂 (mĭk-pŭng)
Gan: 蜜蜂 ('mit$^6$ fung$^1$)
Hakka: 蜂仔 (phûng-é), 糖蜂仔 (thòng-phûng-é / thòng-fûng-é)
Hokkien: 蜂 (zh-min-nan) (phang)
Jin: 蜜蜂 (mieh$^4$ feng$^1$)
Mandarin: 蜜蜂 (zh) (mìfēng), 蠟蜂 / 蜡蜂 (zh) (làfēng) (literary)
Northern Min: 糖蜂 (tô̤ng-póng)
Wu: 蜜蜂
Xiang: 蜜蜂子 (mi$^6$ hong$^1$ zr)
Chuvash: пыл хурчӗ (pyl h̬urč̬ĕ)
Classical Syriac: ܕܒܫܬܐ f (dabbāštā)
Cornish: gwenen f (collective), gwenenen f
Corsican: apa (co) f, aba f
Cree: ᐋᒨ (aamoo), aamoo
Plains Cree: ᐊᒧ (amo)
Crimean Tatar: balqurt, arı (obsolete)
Czech: včela (cs) f
Dalmatian: juopa f, juop m
Danish: bi (da) c
Darkinjung: nyittik
Dorze: ma
Drung: kua
Duala: ndômbi ?
Dutch: bij (nl) f, honingbij (nl) f, imme (nl) f
Eastern Arrernte: urltampe
Egyptian: (bjt f)
Erzya: мекш (mekš)
Esperanto: abelo (eo)
Estonian: mesilane (et)
Evenki: ётыла (jotila)
Extremaduran: abehita f, ovispa f, obispa f
Faroese: býfluga f
Fiji Hindi: madhmakkhi ?
Finnish: mehiläinen (fi)
Franco-Provençal: avilye f
French: abeille (fr) f
Gallo: avètt
Old French: ef m
Friulian: âf f, âv f
Galician: abella (gl) f
Gallurese: abba f
Georgian: ფუტკარი (ka) (puṭḳari)
German: Biene (de) f; Imme (de) f (poetic), Beivogl m (Styrian)
Alemannic German: Biine f, Bii f
Bavarian: Imp f
Central Franconian: Bien f
Gooniyandi: wida
Greek: μέλισσα (el) f (mélissa)
Ancient: μέλισσα f (mélissa), μέλιττα f (mélitta)
Greenlandic: igutsak (kl)
Guaraní: eiru (gn), eira rúa
Guerrero Amuzgo: kích'i
Gujarati: મધમાખી f (madhmākhī)
Haitian Creole: myèl
Hausa: zuma (ha)
Hawaiian: nalo (archaic), nalo meli
Hebrew: דְּבוֹרָה (he) f (dvorá)
Herero: onyuitkhi
Hiligaynon: putyokan
Hindi: मधुमक्खी (hi) f (madhumakkhī)
Hopi: momo
Hungarian: méh (hu)
Icelandic: býfluga (is) f, bý (is) n
Ido: abelo (io)
Igbo: anwụ
Ilocano: uyokan
Inabaknon: buwani
Indonesian: lebah (id), tawon (id)
Ingrian: mehiläin
Ingush: накхармоз (naqarmoz)
Interlingua: ape (ia), apicula
Inuktitut: ᒥᓗᒋᐊᖅ (milociaq)
Irish: beach (ga) f
Isthmus Zapotec: bizu
Italian: ape (it) f, pecchia (it) f
Itelmen: kzumx
Japanese: 蜂 (ja) (はち, hachi), 花蜂 (ja) (はなばち, hanabachi) (specifically)
Javanese: tawon (jv)
Jeju: 벌 (beol)
Jingpho: lagat
Kabardian: бжьэ (kbd) (bźɛ)
Kabyle: Tizizwit f
Kalmyk: зөг (zög)
Kamba: nzũkĩ
Kambaata: disha
Kanakanabu: anu
Kankanaey: yukan
Kannada: ದುಂಬಿ (kn) (dumbi)
Kaonde: injuki
Kashmiri: تُلٕر (tulụr)
Kashubian: pszczoła f
Kaska: tsʼedāsnāne
Kaurna: gadlabarti
Kazakh: ара (ara)
Khmer: ឃ្មុំ (km) (khmum)
Khvarshi: пар (par)
Kikuyu: njũkĩ class 9/10
Kimaragang: kawad
Kimbundu: nhoki ?
Kituba: nyósi
Kongo: nyosi ?
Korean: 벌 (ko) (beol), 밀봉(蜜蜂) (ko) (milbong)
Kumyk: балжибин (baljibin)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھەنگ (ckb) (heng)
Northern Kurdish: hing (ku) ?
Kyrgyz: аары (ky) (aarı), бал аарысы (bal aarısı), эмгекчил адам (ky) (emgekcil adam), фантазия (ky) (fantaziya), причуда (ky) (pricuda), сайран (ky) (sayran), сейил (ky) (seyil)
Ladin: ê ?
Ladino: bízba f, bézba f
Lao: ເຜິ້ງ (lo) (phœng), ພະມະໂຣ (pha ma rō), ພູມມະຣະ (phūm ma ra), ພະມະຣະ (pha ma ra)
Latgalian: bite f
Latin: apis (la) f
Latvian: bite (lv) f
Laz: ბუტკუჯი (buťǩuci)
Limburgish: bie (li) f
Lingala: nzói class 9/10
Linngithigh: malay
Lisu: ꓐꓬꓽ (bjɑ̀)
Lithuanian: bitė (lt) f
Lombard: avi (lmo) f
Low German:
Dutch Low Saxon: iem f
German Low German: Imm f
Lozi: muka ?
Lü: ᦕᦹᧂᧉ (ṗhueng²)
Luba-Katanga: nnyikì ?
Luganda: enjuki ?
Luhya: inzushi ?
Luo: kich
Luxembourgish: Bei (lb) f
Maasai: ol-otórokî, ol-otóròì
Macedonian: пчела (mk) f (pčela)
Malagasy: tantely (mg)
Malay: lebah (ms), tawon
Malayalam: തേനീച്ച (ml) (tēnīcca, literally “honey-fly”), ഇണ്ട (ml) (iṇṭa)(literary), ഘണ്ഡം (ml) (ghaṇḍaṁ) (literary), ഭസനം (ml) (bhasanaṁ) (literary)
Maltese: naħla (mt) f
Manchu: ᡥᡳᠪᠰᡠ ᡝᠵᡝᠨ (hibsu ejen)
Mandinka: kumburuŋo
Manx: shellan m
Maore Comorian: nyoshi class 9/10
Maori: ngaro huruhuru (native), pī
Mapudungun: diwmeñ, kormeña
Marathi: मधमाशी f (madhmāśī), मधुकर ? (madhukar)
Marshallese: pi
Massachusett: ashkeaumooussog
Mazanderani: کنگلی (kangeli)
Mbyá Guaraní: eiru
Megleno-Romanian: albină f
Mi'kmaq: amu anim
Middle English: bee
Mingrelian: სკა (sḳa)
Mirandese: abeilha f
Mizo: khuai, khuai, khawivah
Moksha: меш (meš)
Mon: သာဲ (mnw) (sāy)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: зөгий (mn) (zögii)
Mongolian: ᠵᠥᠭᠡᠢ (ǰögei)
Mpade: mam
Murrinh-Patha: pangkima
Mwani: nyuki class 9
Nahuatl: xicohtli (nah)
Nanticoke: aa-moak
Navajo: tsísʼná
Ndzwani Comorian: nyoshi class 9/10
Neapolitan: apa f
Nepali: मौरी (ne) (maurī)
Ngazidja Comorian: nyoshi class 9/10
Norman: moûque à myi f, bourdon à myi m
Northern Sami: mieđašeatni
Northern Sotho: nôse ?
Norwegian: bie (no) m or f
Nuosu: ꐚ (jji)
Nyamwezi: nzuki ?
Occitan: abelha (oc) f
Odia: ମହୁମାଛି (mahumāchi)
Ojibwe: ᐋᒨ (aamoo)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: бьчела f (bĭčela), бъчела f (bŭčela)
Glagolitic: ⰱⱐⱍⰵⰾⰰ f (bĭčela), ⰱⱏⱍⰵⰾⰰ f (bŭčela)
Old East Slavic: бьчела f (bĭčela)
Old English: bēo f
Old Irish: bech m or f
Old Javanese: tawwan
Old Portuguese: abella f
Oromo: kaanniissa
Ossetian: мыдыбындз (mydybynʒ)
Ottoman Turkish: آری (arı), زنبور (zenbur)
Palauan: chelakngikl, chelatngikl
Pali: bhamara m
Pannonian Rusyn: пчола f (pčola)
Papiamentu: bei
Pashto: مچئِي ? (mača'i), بلۍ مچۍ f (balǝ́ymǝčǝ́y), غلاوزه f (ǧlāwáza)
Pennsylvania German: Iem f
Persian:
Iranian Persian: زَنْبور (zanbur), زَنْبورِ عَسَل (zanbur-e asal), مُنْج (monj) (archaic), گَبْت (gabt), بُوْز (bowz), کَلیز (kaliz), موسِه (muse), اَنْگ (ang)
Plautdietsch: Bie f
Polabian: čelă f
Polish: pszczoła (pl) f
Portuguese: abelha (pt) f
Punjabi: ਮਧੁ ਮਕ੍ਖੀ ? (madhu makkhī)
Quechua: mapa mama, abiha
Rapa Nui: manu meri
Romagnol: eva f
Romani: berorî ?
Caló: jernimachí ?
Romanian: albină (ro) f
Romansch: (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan) avieul m, (Sursilvan) aviul m, (Surmiran) avioul m, (Puter, Vallader) aviöl m
Russian: пчела́ (ru) f (pčelá)
Rwanda-Rundi: uruyuki class 11/10, uru-yuki ?
Samoan: lago-meli
Sango: inyusi
Sanskrit: भ्रमर (sa) m (bhramara), मधुलिह् (sa) m (madhulih)
Sardinian: àbe ?
Campidanese: abi ?
Logudorese: abe f
Sassarese: aba ?
Saterland Frisian: Ieme f
Scottish Gaelic: seillean m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: пчѐла f
Roman: pčèla (sh) f
Shan: ၽိုင်ႈ (shn) (phūeng)
Shona: nyuchi class 9/10
Sicilian: lapuni (scn) m, lapa (scn) f
Sidamo: dida
Sikkimese: please add this translation if you can
Sindhi: مک (sd) ? (maki)
Sinhalese: මීමැස්සා (mīmæssā)
Slovak: včela (sk) f
Slovene: čebela (sl) f
Somali: shinni (so) f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: pcołka f
Upper Sorbian: pčoła f
Sotho: notshi (st) class 9/10
Southern Altai: адару (adaru), аару (aaru)
Spanish: abeja (es) f
Sranan Tongo: oni
Sudovian: bite f
Sundanese: nyiruan
Svan: ღუ̂ებ (ɣûeb), ბუზუ̄ლ (buzūl), ლა̈ღუ̂ბა̈ ბუზუ̄ლ (läɣûbä buzūl)
Swabian: Biele ?
Swahili: nyuki (sw) class 9/10
Swedish: bi (sv) n
Tagal Murut: maningot
Tagalog: bubuyog (tl), pukyot
Tajik: занбӯр (tg) (zanbür), ору (tg) (oru)
Tamil: தேனீ (ta) (tēṉī)
Tashelhit: tazzdwit f
Tatar: умырта корты (umırta qortı), бал корты (tt) (bal qortı)
Telugu: తేనెటీగ (te) (tēneṭīga)
Tetum: bani
Thai: ผึ้ง (th) (pʉ̂ng), ภมร (pá-mɔɔn), ภุมรี (pum-má-rii)
Tibetan: སྦྲང་རྩི་མྱོང (sbrang rtsi myong), རྡུལ་ཉལ (rdul nyal), བུང་བ (bung ba), སྦྲང་མ (sbrang ma)
Tigrinya: ንህቢ (ti) ? (nəhbi), ንሕቢ (ti) ? (nəḥbi)
Tocharian B: krokśe ?, kronkśe ?
Tok Pisin: bi, binen
Tswana: notshi class 9/10
Tupinambá: eíra
Turkish: arı (tr)
Turkmen: ary (tk)
Tuvan: ары (arı)
Uab Meto: oni, onê
Udmurt: муш (muš)
Ukrainian: бджола́ (uk) f (bdžolá)
Umbundu: nyihi
Unami: amëwe
Urdu: شَہْد کی مَکھّی f (śahd kī makhhī), مَدھ مَکھّی f (madh makhhī)
Uyghur: ھەرە (here)
Uzbek: ari (uz)
Cyrillic: ари (ari)
Venda: notshi class 9/10
Venetan: ava (vec) f
Vietnamese: ong (vi)
Vilamovian: byn f
Volapük: bien (vo)
Votic: tšimä
Walloon: moxhe al låme (wa) f, moxhe (wa) f, moxhe di tchetoere f, moxhe d' apî (wa) f
Wastek: dhom
Welsh: gwenynen (cy) f
West Coast Bajau: buani
West Frisian: bij ?
White Hmong: muv
Wiradjuri: ngaraang
Woiwurrung: manerlong
Wolof: yamb wi
Xhosa: inyosi class 9/10
Yagnobi: замбур (zambur)
Yakut: ыҥырыа (ıñırıa)
Yiddish: בין f (bin)
Yoruba: oyin, kòkòrò oyin
Yucatec Maya: kaab
Yugambal: nyugay
Yup'ik: mertaq
Zazaki: hıng (diq) f
Zhuang: rwi
Zulu: inyosi (zu) class 9/10 :

##### See also

* apiology, apiculture, beekeeping
* (castes): worker bee, worker, queen bee, queen, drone
* (behavior): beehive, eusocial, hive, swarm, tremble dance, waggle dance
* (anatomy): corbicula, sarothrum, scopa, sting
* (substances): ambrosia, beebread, beeswax, honey, honeycomb, propolis, royal jelly
* apitherapy
* (hives): apiary, beehouse, skep, Langstroth hive,
* (equipment): super, queen-cage, bee escape, duplet, honey extractor, topbar, bee smoker, apidictor
* (diseases): chalkbrood, colony collapse disorder, foulbrood, nosema, sacbrood, stonebrood, varroa
* apian
* apiarian
* apiarist
* apimania
* Category:en:Beekeeping
* dumbledore
* hornet
* pollinator
* wasp
* Appendix:Animals
* Appendix:English collective nouns
* jumping bristletails, archaeognathans (Archaeognatha)
* cockroaches and termites, blattodeans (Blattodea)
* beetles, coleopterans (Coleoptera)
* earwigs, dermapterans (Dermaptera)
* flies, dipterans (Diptera)
* webspinners, embiopterans (Embioptera)
* mayflies, ephemeropterans (Ephemeroptera)
* ice crawlers, grylloblattodeans (Grylloblattodea)
* true bugs, hemipterans (Hemiptera)
* hymenopterans (ants, bees, wasps, etc.) (Hymenoptera)
* butterflies and moths, lepidopterans (Lepidoptera)
* mantises, mantodeans (Mantodea)
* mantophasmids (Mantophasmatodea)
* scorpionflies, mecopterans (Mecoptera)
* megalopterans (alderflies, dobsonflies, fishflies, etc.) (Megaloptera)
* neuropterans (antlions, lacewings, mantisflies, etc.) (Neuroptera)
* damselflies and dragonflies, odonatans (Odonata)
* orthopterans (crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, etc.) (Orthoptera)
* stick insects, phasmatodeans (Phasmatodea)
* stoneflies, plecopterans (Plecoptera)
* booklice, psocodeans (Psocodea)
* snakeflies, raphidiopterans (Raphidioptera)
* fleas, siphonapterans (Siphonaptera)
* strepsipterans (Strepsiptera)
* thrips, thysanopterans (Thysanoptera)
* caddis flies, trichopterans (Trichoptera)
* zorapterans (Zoraptera)
* silverfish, zygentomans (Zygentoma)

### Etymology 2

Possibly from dialectal bene, been, bean (“help given by neighbours”), from Middle English been, bene (“neighbourly help, prayer, petition, request, extra service given by a tenant to his lord”), from Old English bēn (“prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service”), from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“prayer, request, supplication”). Thus a variant of obsolete ben (“prayer; petition”) and doublet of boon. Cognate with Danish bøn (“prayer”), Dutch ban (“curse”), German Bann (“ban”). More at ban.

#### Noun

bee (plural bees)
* A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
    geography bee
* A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
** 1856, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, Recollections of a Lifetime:The cellar […] was dug by a bee in a single day.
** 1973, Alan Skeoch, Tony H. Smith, Canadians and their society, page 139:There was but little variation in types of buildings in the pioneer period: house, church, store, barn and mill were usually much alike except in size, and a raising bee was the ordinary means of their erection.
** 2011 September 21, Tim Blanning, “The reinvention of the night”, in Times Literary Supplement:Particularly resistant, for example, in many parts of northern Europe was the “spinning bee”, a nocturnal gathering of women to exchange gossip, stories, refreshment and – crucially – light and heat, as they spun wool or flax, knitted or sewed.

##### Derived terms

* husking bee
* spelling bee

##### Translations

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

### Etymology 3

From Middle English beeȝ, bie, bei, begh, beiȝe, bege, beah, bye, from Old English bēah, bēag, from Proto-Germanic *baugaz. Doublet of beag, a learned borrowing; and of bagel.

#### Noun

bee (plural bees)
* (obsolete) A ring or torque; a bracelet.
** 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Caxton, Book 7, Chapter xxxv:And kyng Arthur gaf her a ryche bee of gold and soo she departed
** 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial, Penguin, published 2005, page 16:...restoring unto the world much gold richly adorning his Sword, two hundred Rubies, many hundred Imperial Coynes, three hundred golden Bees, the bones and horseshoe of his horse enterred with him...

### Etymology 4

* A user suggests that this English entry be cleaned up, giving the reason: “Example is not a use of the past participle.”
* Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.
Variant spellings.

#### Verb

bee
* Obsolete spelling of be.
** 1604, Reverend Cawdrey, Table Aleph:held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’
* (obsolete) past participle of be; been
** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 19, page 8:His Lady sad to see his sore constraint, / Cride out, Now now Sir knight, shew what ye bee / Add faith vnto your force, and be not faint: / Strangle her, els she sure will strangle thee.

### Etymology 5

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English be, from Latin be (the name of the letter B).

#### Noun

bee (plural bees)
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.
** 2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:"The ee-vee-ee-ar-en-oh-ee-ell-blank-bee-ell-oh-ess-ess-oh-em-blank-en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar is especially dee-ee-ell-eye-cee-eye-oh-you-ess." Our friends thanked the spelling bee for his help and then he buzzed off.

##### Derived terms

* beebee
* beejay
* bee tee dubs
* pee bee and jay
* Seabee

##### See also

* (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

### Etymology 6

Probably from Old English bēah (“ring”). Compare bow.

#### Noun

bee (plural bees)
* (nautical, usually in the plural) Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.

##### Synonyms

* bee block

### References

* ↑ “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎, 2012 March 4 (last accessed), archived from the original on 16 June 2012
* ↑ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bee%5B3%5D

### Anagrams

* EBE

## Afar
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbeː/ [ˈbeː]
* Hyphenation: bee

### Verb

bée (autobenefactive beeté)
* (transitive) to take
* (transitive) to take away
* (transitive, + l-case) to overcome
* (transitive, + l-case) to be angry with

#### Conjugation
### References

* E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “bee”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
* Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

## Äiwoo
### Verb

bee
* (intransitive) to grow

### References

* Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

## Aukan
### Etymology

From English belly.

### Noun

bee
* belly, stomach
* uterus, womb
* pregnancy
* lineage, family line

### References

* Aukan-English Dictionary (SIL)

## Dumbea
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ᵐbe/

### Noun

bee
* fish

### References

* Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "ⁿDuᵐbea" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.
* Shintani, T.L.A. & Païta, Y. (1990) Dictionnaire de la langue de Païta, Nouméa: Sociéte d'etudes historiques de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Cited in: "Drubea" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

## Estonian
### Noun

bee (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

## Finnish
### Etymology

From Latin bē.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbeː/, [ˈbe̞ː]
* Rhymes: -eː
* Hyphenation: bee

### Noun

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

#### Usage notes

* Speakers often use the corresponding forms of b-kirjain (“letter B, letter b”) instead of inflecting this word, especially in plural.

#### Declension

Possessive forms of bee (Kotus type 18/maa, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
beeni
beeni
accusative
nom.
beeni
beeni
gen.
beeni
genitive
beeni
beideni beitteni
partitive
beetäni
beitäni
inessive
beessäni
beissäni
elative
beestäni
beistäni
illative
beeheni
beihini
adessive
beelläni
beilläni
ablative
beeltäni
beiltäni
allative
beelleni
beilleni
essive
beenäni
beinäni
translative
beekseni
beikseni
abessive
beettäni
beittäni
instructive
comitative
—beineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
beesi
beesi
accusative
nom.
beesi
beesi
gen.
beesi
genitive
beesi
beidesi beittesi
partitive
beetäsi
beitäsi
inessive
beessäsi
beissäsi
elative
beestäsi
beistäsi
illative
beehesi
beihisi
adessive
beelläsi
beilläsi
ablative
beeltäsi
beiltäsi
allative
beellesi
beillesi
essive
beenäsi
beinäsi
translative
beeksesi
beiksesi
abessive
beettäsi
beittäsi
instructive
comitative
—beinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
beemme
beemme
accusative
nom.
beemme
beemme
gen.
beemme
genitive
beemme
beidemme beittemme
partitive
beetämme
beitämme
inessive
beessämme
beissämme
elative
beestämme
beistämme
illative
beehemme
beihimme
adessive
beellämme
beillämme
ablative
beeltämme
beiltämme
allative
beellemme
beillemme
essive
beenämme
beinämme
translative
beeksemme
beiksemme
abessive
beettämme
beittämme
instructive
comitative
—beinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
beenne
beenne
accusative
nom.
beenne
beenne
gen.
beenne
genitive
beenne
beidenne beittenne
partitive
beetänne
beitänne
inessive
beessänne
beissänne
elative
beestänne
beistänne
illative
beehenne
beihinne
adessive
beellänne
beillänne
ablative
beeltänne
beiltänne
allative
beellenne
beillenne
essive
beenänne
beinänne
translative
beeksenne
beiksenne
abessive
beettänne
beittänne
instructive
comitative
—beinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
beensä
beensä
accusative
nom.
beensä
beensä
gen.
beensä
genitive
beensä
beidensä beittensä
partitive
beetään beetänsä
beitään beitänsä
inessive
beessään beessänsä
beissään beissänsä
elative
beestään beestänsä
beistään beistänsä
illative
beehensä
beihinsä
adessive
beellään beellänsä
beillään beillänsä
ablative
beeltään beeltänsä
beiltään beiltänsä
allative
beelleen beellensä
beilleen beillensä
essive
beenään beenänsä
beinään beinänsä
translative
beekseen beeksensä
beikseen beiksensä
abessive
beettään beettänsä
beittään beittänsä
instructive
comitative
—beineen beinensä :

#### Synonyms

* b-kirjain

## Fula
### Alternative forms

* beni

### Etymology

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

### Particle

bee (Pular)
* it must, it is necessary that
    iggey yimbe bee bonnii taariinde nde no feewi.(please add an English translation of this usage example)

#### Dialectal variants

* maal
* doole
* tilay
* say
* sey

#### See also

* duwaa

### References

* Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.

## Hadza
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /beʔe/

### Pronoun

bee f pl (masc. bami, masc. plural bii, fem. bôko)
* they (fem. or mixed gender)

#### Related terms

* habee
* nâbee
* himiggêbee
* beena

## Hungarian
### Etymology

An onomatopoeia.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈbɛɛ]
* Hyphenation: bee
* Rhymes: -ɛ

### Interjection

bee
* baa (sound of a sheep)
* (childish) a word expressing bragging and mockery between children

### See also

* béget

### Further reading

* bee 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).

## Latin
### Alternative forms

* be

### Etymology

Of imitative origin

### Interjection

bee
* baa (sound of a sheep)
** 116 BCE – 27 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, Agricultural Topics 2.1.7, (The spelling "be" is also read in this passage):nec multo secus nostri ab eadem voce, sed ab alia litera. vox earum non me, sed bee sonare videtur.(please add an English translation of this quotation)

### References

* ↑ Heinrich Keil, editor (1884), M. Terenti Varronis Rervm rvsticarvm libri tres, volume 1, Leipzig: Teubner, page 136

### Further reading

* “bee”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* bee in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

## Mandinka
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /beː/

### Noun

bee
* (anatomy) vagina

## Manx
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /biː/

### Etymology 1

From Old Irish bíad (“food”). Cognate with Irish bia and Scottish Gaelic biadh.

#### Noun

bee m (genitive singular bee, plural beeghyn)
* food
* provisions
* nourishment
* diet

##### Derived terms

* bee ny jeeghyn (“ambrosia”)
* bee millish (“sweetmeat, sweet”)
* bee moddee (“dog food”)

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

bee
* inflection of ve:
** future
** second-person singular imperative

### Mutation

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

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* be, beo, bey

### Etymology

From Old English bēo, from Proto-West Germanic *biju, from Proto-Germanic *bijō.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /beː/
* (Early Middle English) IPA: /bøː/

### Noun

bee (plural been or bees)
* A bee (insect that collects pollen)
** a. 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Summoner's Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, lines 1693–1696:Right so as bees out swarmen from an hyve, / Out of the develes ers ther gonne dryve / Twenty thousand freres on a route / And thurghout helle swarmed al aboute...Just like bees swarm from a hive / Out of the devil's arse there were driven / Twenty thousand friars on a rout / And throughout hell they swarmed all about...

#### Descendants

* English: bee
* Scots: bee, be, beye, bie, bea
* Yola: been (plural)

#### References

* “bẹ̄, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-24.

## Navajo
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pèː/
* Audio:(file)

### Postposition

bee
* with, by means of, by means of it

#### Inflection
## Old Irish
### Verb

bee
* second-person singular present subjunctive absolute of at·tá

## Romanian
### Interjection

bee
* Obsolete form of behehe.

### References

* bee in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

## San Juan Guelavía Zapotec
### Noun

bee
* ant

### References

* López Antonio, Joaquín, Jones, Ted, Jones, Kris (2012) Vocabulario breve del Zapoteco de San Juan Guelavía‎ (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Tlalpan, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., pages 13, 25

## Saterland Frisian
### Etymology

From Old Frisian bēthe, from Proto-Germanic *bai (“both”) + *sa (“the”). Cognates include West Frisian beide and German beide.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /beː/
* Hyphenation: bee
* Rhymes: -eː

### Determiner

bee
* both

### Pronoun

bee
* both

#### Usage notes

* When used pronominally referring to two people (rather than objects or animals), the plural beeën is used.

### References

* Marron C. Fort (2015) “bee”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

## Swahili
### Pronunciation

* Audio (Kenya):(file)

### Interjection

bee
* Alternative form of abee

## Tetum
### Alternative forms

* wee (Tetun-Terik)

### Etymology

From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

### Noun

bee
* water (clear liquid H₂O)

## Võro
### Noun

bee (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])
* The name of the Latin-script letter B/b.

#### Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

## Yola
### Etymology 1

From Middle English by, from Old English bi, from Proto-West Germanic *bī. Cognates include English by and Scots by.

#### Alternative forms

* be, bie, by

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /biː/
* Homophone: bye

#### Preposition

bee
* by

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

bee
* Alternative form of ba (“to be”)
** 1927, “ZONG OF TWI MAARKEET MOANS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 129, lines 15:Maa bee haghed i more caar an angish than Ich."May be upset in more care and hardship than I."
** 1927, “ZONG O DHREE YOLA MYTHENS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 131, lines 13:Wu canna gow bee chapaal gaat,We cannot go to the chapel gate
* Alternative form of ba (“are”)
** 1927, “ZONG O DHREE YOLA MYTHENS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 131, lines 1:Haar wee bee dhree yola mydes,Here we are three old maids,
* Alternative form of ba (“was”)
** 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 114, lines 21-23:Ye pace——yea, we mai zei, ye vaste pace whilke bee ee-stent owr ye londe zince th'ast ee-cam,The peace——yes, we may say the profound peace—which overspreads the land since your arrival,

### References

* 1 2 Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 25
* 1 2 3 Kathleen A. Browne (1927) “THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD.”, in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of lreland (Sixth Series)‎, volume 17, number 2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland