bint

English

Etymology

From Arabic بِنْت (bínt, girl, daughter), used to denote a patronym.

The term entered the British lexicon during the occupation of Egypt at the end of the nineteenth century, where it was adopted by British soldiers to mean "girlfriend" or "bit on the side". It is used as a derogatory slang word in the United Kingdom, meaning 'woman' or 'girl'. Its register varies from that of the harsher bitch to an only slightly derogatory, almost affectionate, term for a young woman, the latter being more commonly associated with the West Midlands. The term was used in British armed forces and the London area synonymously with bird in its slang usage (and sometimes brass) from at least the 1950s. The term has also famously been used in the classic film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which the Lady of the Lake is referred to as a "moistened bint", and in the phrase "grotty Scots bint" in the "English English" scene of the film Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Following the Second World War, workers were imported from Yemen to fill the vacancies left in the Tyneside ship-building industry. The term found its way into the Geordie dialect from the late 1940s onwards and is still used to this day. Although the term can be used in a derogatory sense, in general it refers simply to (usually young) females.

Pronunciation

Noun

bint (plural bints)

  1. (UK, pejorative) A woman, a girl.
    Tell that bint to get herself in here now!
    Don't you remember the Crimbo din-din we had with the grotty Scots bint?
    • Monty Python's Flying Circus
      If I went round saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!

Synonyms


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Crimean Tatar

Etymology

From German Binde.

Noun

bint

  1. bind, bandage

Declension

References

  • Useinov & Mireev Dictionary, Simferopol, Dolya, 2002 [1]

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Dutch

Noun

bint n (plural binten)

  1. heavy wooden beam
  2. several beams, forming the structure of a building

Synonyms

2: gebint, gebinte


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Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic بِنْت (bínt)

Noun

bint f

  1. daughter

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Mòcheno

Etymology

From Old High German wint, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (blowing).

Pronunciation

Noun

bint m(please provide plural)

  1. wind (movement of atmospheric air)

References

  • Anthony R. Rowley, Liacht as de sproch: Grammatica della lingua mòchena Deutsch-Fersentalerisch, TEMI, 2003.
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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 22:49