bistre

See also: bistré

English

Alternative forms

• bister

Etymology

French bistre

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪstə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪstɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɪstə(ɹ)

Noun

bistre (countable and uncountable, plural bistres)

1. A brown pigment made from soot, especially from beech wood.
2. A mid-to-dark brown color resembling the pigment.

   bistre:  

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 46, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     [O]h! what an object he was! The rings round his eyes were of the colour of bistre […]

Translations

brown pigment

• Polish: bistr m
• Swedish: bister (sv) n

mid-to-dark brown

• Polish: bistrowy

Anagrams

• Bertis, Breits, Sibert, bestir, bister, biters, bitser, rebits, tribes

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bistʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: bistrent, bistres

Etymology 1

Attested since the 16th century; further etymology unknown.

Adjective

bistre (plural bistres)

1. bistre

Noun

bistre m (plural bistres)

1. bistre

Derived terms

• bistrer

Descendants

• → Catalan: bistre
• → English: bistre
• → Italian: bistro
• → Portuguese: bistre
• → Swedish: bister

Etymology 2

Verb

bistre

1. inflection of bistrer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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

Serbo-Croatian

Adjective

bistre

1. inflection of bistar:
   1. masculine accusative plural
   2. feminine genitive singular
   3. feminine nominative/accusative/vocative plural