Wiktionary

B

(Redirected from Ｂ)
See also: b and Appendix:Variations of "b"
LetterB.svg
B U+0042, B
LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B
← A
[U+0041] 		Basic Latin C →
[U+0043]
Character variations
Ｂ U+FF22, Ｂ
FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B
← Ａ
[U+FF21] 		Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms Ｃ →
[U+FF23]
𝕭 U+1D56D, 𝕭
MATHEMATICAL BOLD FRAKTUR CAPITAL B
← 𝕬
[U+1D56C] 		Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols 𝕮 →
[U+1D56E]

TranslingualEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From the Etruscan letter 𐌁 (b, “be”), from the Ancient Greek letter Β (B, “beta”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤁‎ (b, “bet”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉐.

LetterEdit

B (lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
Usage notesEdit

The letter B (usually its lower case form b) is used in several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent the bilabial plosive or stop, usually voiced (/b/).

See alsoEdit

Etymology 2Edit

SymbolEdit

B

  1. A blood type that has a specific antigen that aggravates the immune response in people with type A antigen in their blood. They can receive blood from type B or type O, but cannot receive blood from AB or A.
  2. (chemistry) The chemical element boron.
  3. Eleven, especially used in the base more than ten, such as duodecimal, hexadecimal, vigesimal and so on.
    The equivalent numbers of decimal 1611 are duodecimal B23, hexadecimal 64B, vigesimal 40B and so on.
  4. (biochemistry) As an IUPAC code for amino acids, aspartic acid or asparagine.
  5. (physics) A magnetic flux density.
  6. (linguistics) A wildcard for a labial consonant

GalleryEdit

  • Letter styles

  • Capital and lowercase versions of B, in normal and italic type

  • Uppercase and lowercase B in Fraktur

  • B in uncial script

See alsoEdit

  • (blood type): from antigen B
  • (symbol for boron): abbreviation of boron
  • (hexadecimal 11): The eleventh item from the sequence {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F}

Other representations of B:

Further readingEdit

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • (phoneme) IPA(key): /b/
  • (letter name) IPA(key): /biː/
  • Audio (UK)
    		(file)
  • Audio (AU)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1Edit

 

Old English letter B, from 7th century replacement by Latin B of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᛒ (B, “beorc”).

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b, plural Bs or B's)

  1. The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
Usage notesEdit

In Modern English, the letter B is sometimes silent, e.g. in climb, and debt.

Apostrophes are sometimes used to form plurals of single upper case letters, especially at the start of a sentence:

A’s are difficult to achieve in this class.

Usually, though, the apostrophe is avoided when there is no risk of confusion:

She gets straight As in school.
See alsoEdit

NumberEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The ordinal number second, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2Edit

  • (cricket, balls): abbreviation of balls
  • (billion): abbreviation of billion
  • (black): abbreviation of black

NounEdit

B

  1. (cricket) the number of balls faced by a batsman
  2. The quantity one billion (1,000,000,000), usually used to signify a sum of money
    $2.8 B — “two point eight billion dollars” (i.e., $2,800,000,000)
  3. (Britain) The grade of pencil that makes darker marks than grade HB but lighter marks than grade 2B; a pencil with soft lead.
  4. (chess) Bishop
  5. (music) Bass.
  6. (immunology) A B cell.
    • 2020 May 2, “Leaving lockdown means understanding immune responses to the virus”, in The Economist‎[1]:
      Mind your Bs and Ts
      […] And if the combined efforts of macrophages, b cells and t cells are sufficient, the pathogen will be beaten back and eventually cleared from the body.

Etymology 3Edit

  • (personality type): from contrast with the letter ‘A’ and its corresponding personality type
  • (academic grade): from the position of the letter ‘B’ in the English alphabet

NounEdit

B (plural Bs)

  1. A personality type of someone who is relaxed and easygoing and able to engage in leisure activities without worrying about work.
  2. An academic grade, better than a C and worse than an A
  3. Signifies a second-tier or second class of a given commodity, group, or category, as in B-movie, B-list, etc.
    The television studio revived some of its B characters for the spinoff.
    • 1999, Michael Sauter, The Worst Movies of All Time, Or, What Were They Thinking? (page 268)
      The baddest of the Bs, then, are a rare, precious mix of jerry-built production values and jazzed-up creative juices. But that's not to say that even with a budget, a B movie can't still bounce way off the wall, […]
  4. Alternate or secondary part, as the back side of a phonograph record. Contrasted with A, which is the primary part.
  6. (music) The seventh note in the C major scale.
See alsoEdit
TranslationsEdit
See B/translations § English.
Usage notesEdit

Apostrophes are sometimes used to form plurals of single upper case letters, especially at the start of a sentence:

A’s are difficult to achieve in this class.

Usually, though, the apostrophe is avoided when there is no risk of confusion:

She gets straight As in school.

SymbolEdit

B

  1. (computing) byte
Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
  • (computing): b (bit)
TranslationsEdit
See B/translations § English.

Proper nounEdit

B

  2. (computer languages) A programming language from which C is derived.

AfarEdit

LetterEdit

B

  1. The second letter in the Afar alphabet.

See alsoEdit

AzerbaijaniEdit

LetterEdit

B upper case (lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

BasqueEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Basque alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

BlagarEdit

LetterEdit

B

  1. The second letter of the Blagar alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

CatalanEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

ChineseEdit

Etymology 1Edit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

B

  1. (Mandarin, chiefly Internet slang) Alternative form of 屄 (bī).

Etymology 2Edit

Short for BB (bi1-4 bi1, “baby”).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

B

  1. (Cantonese) baby (Classifier: 個／个)
    喂，睇住個B啊！ / 喂，睇住个B啊！ [Cantonese]  ―  wai2, tai2 zyu6 go3 bi1 aa3! [Jyutping]  ―  Hey, look after the baby!
CompoundsEdit
SynonymsEdit
Dialectal synonyms of 嬰兒 (“baby; infant”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese 嬰
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 嬰兒, 嬰孩
Mandarin Beijing 嬰孩兒
Taiwan 嬰兒, 寶寶
Luoyang 娃娃
Wanrong 胎娃
Wuhan 毛頭伢, 毛頭, 毛毛伢, 毛毛, 伢伢
Chengdu 奶娃兒, 奶娃子, 奶娃娃
Guiyang 嫩娃娃
Kunming 小每每, 小咕奶兒
Xuzhou 小毛娃兒
Nanjing 小毛娃, 毛娃, 小寶寶
Singapore 嬰兒
Cantonese Guangzhou 蘇蝦仔, 蘇蝦, 𤘅孲仔, BB仔, BB, 阿蝦, 臊妹
Hong Kong 蘇蝦仔, 蘇蝦, 𤘅孲仔, BB仔, BB, B, 蝦仔
Macau BB仔
Conghua 蘇蝦仔
Taishan 毛蝦
Dongguan 蘇蝦仔, BB, BB仔
Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu) 蘇蝦仔, BB仔
Singapore (Guangfu) 蘇蝦
Gan Nanchang 毛伢子
Lichuan 毛伢崽
Pingxiang 毛毛仔
Hakka Meixian 孲𤘅仔
Xingning 孲𤘅哩
Huidong (Daling) 孲𤘅仔
Qujiang 孲𤘅子
Lianshan (Xiaosanjiang) 嫩仔
Changting 孲𤘅子, 赤蝦子
Wuping 孲𤘅子, 赤蝦子
Wuping (Pingyu) 蝦毛子
Liancheng 孲𤘅子
Yudu 伢人子, 毛伢子
Ruijin 孲𤘅子, 赤蝦子
Shicheng 赤伢
Shangyou 伢毛子
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 孲𤘅仔
Liudui (S. Sixian) 孲𤘅仔
Hsinchu (Hailu) 孲𤘅, 孲𤘅仔
Dongshi (Dabu) 孲𤘅
Hsinchu (Raoping) 孲𤘅仔, 孲𤘅
Yunlin (Zhao'an) 阿佅, 嬰仔
Huizhou Jixi 細妹
Jin Taiyuan 小娃娃
Xinzhou 小娃子
Min Bei Jian'ou 𤘅仔
Min Dong Fuzhou 兒囝囝
Min Nan Xiamen 嬰仔
Quanzhou 嬰仔
Yongchun 嬰囝
Zhangzhou 嬰仔, 嬰哥, 紅嬰仔, 紅嬰
Taipei 嬰仔
New Taipei (Sanxia) 紅嬰
Kaohsiung 紅嬰仔
Yilan 紅嬰仔
Changhua (Lukang) 紅嬰仔
Taichung 紅嬰仔
Tainan 紅嬰仔
Hsinchu 紅嬰仔
Kinmen 嬰仔
Singapore (Hokkien) 嬰仔, 尾咪, 細囝
Manila (Hokkien) 嬰仔
Guilin (Biyange) 毛毛崽
Shantou 孥囝
Leizhou 儂
Haikou 囝, 儂 intimate
Southern Pinghua Nanning (Tingzi) 娃娃
Wu Shanghai 小毛頭, 小小囡, 毛毛頭
Shanghai (Chongming) 小小囡
Suzhou 小毛頭, 毛毛頭, 血泡泡
Danyang 小毛毛, 毛毛
Hangzhou 小毛頭兒, 小毛頭, 毛頭兒, 毛毛頭
Ningbo 奶花, 小毛頭, 毛頭奶花, 孲𤘅, 抱手
Wenzhou 娒兒, 娒娒兒
Jinhua 王男
Xiang Changsha 毛毛, 毛毛它, 毛它
Loudi 毛毛唧, 毛毛

CompoundsEdit

CzechEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B

  1. B (the 2nd letter in the Czech alphabet)

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

B

  1. (music) B flat

DutchEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

EsperantoEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called bo and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

EstonianEdit

 
Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia et

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Estonian alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

FinnishEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Finnish alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

Usage notesEdit

  • Used only in loanwords.

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

B

  1. Abbreviation of lubenter approbatur.

GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the German alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

B n (genitive B, no plural)

  1. (music) B-flat

DeclensionEdit

Declension of B (uncountable)
singular
indef. def. noun
nominative ein das B
genitive eines des B
dative einem dem B
accusative ein das B

See alsoEdit

  • H (“B (musical note)”)

HungarianEdit

PronunciationEdit

Alternative formsEdit

  • b (in music)

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The third letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called bé and written in the Latin script.
  2. (music) B-flat, B♭ (the 11th note of the C chromatic scale)

DeclensionEdit

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
singular plural
nominative B B-k
accusative B-t B-ket
dative B-nek B-knek
instrumental B-vel B-kkel
causal-final B-ért B-kért
translative B-vé B-kké
terminative B-ig B-kig
essive-formal B-ként B-kként
essive-modal — —
inessive B-ben B-kben
superessive B-n B-ken
adessive B-nél B-knél
illative B-be B-kbe
sublative B-re B-kre
allative B-hez B-khez
elative B-ből B-kből
delative B-ről B-kről
ablative B-től B-ktől
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		B-é B-ké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		B-éi B-kéi
Possessive forms of B
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. B-m B-im
2nd person sing. B-d B-id
3rd person sing. B-je B-i
1st person plural B-nk B-ink
2nd person plural B-tek B-itek
3rd person plural B-jük B-ik

Derived termsEdit

See alsoEdit

Further readingEdit

  • (the letter and symbol): (1): b in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
  • (in music): (2): b in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
  • b in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (’A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2021)

IdoEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

IndonesianEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

ItalianEdit

 
Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

PronunciationEdit

  • (letter name) IPA(key): **/ˈbi/*
    • Rhymes: -i
  • (phonemic realization) IPA(key): /b/

LetterEdit

B f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Italian alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

LatvianEdit

 
Latvian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia lv

EtymologyEdit

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

 
B

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The third letter of the Latvian alphabet, called bē and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

MalayEdit

 
Malay Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ms

PronunciationEdit

  • (Name of letter) IPA(key): [bi]
  • (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA(key): [b]
  • (Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA(key): [p̚]

LetterEdit

B

  1. The second letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

MalteseEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

Norwegian BokmålEdit

 
Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nb
 
The uppercase and lowercase form of the letter B.

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Latin B, from Etruscan 𐌁 (b, “be”), from Ancient Greek Β (B, “beta”), from the Phoenician 𐤁‎ (b, “bet”), from Proto-Canaanite  , from Proto-Sinaitic  , from Egyptian 𓉐, representing the plan of a house.

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

B m (definite singular B-en, indefinite plural B-er, definite plural B-ene)

  1. the letter B, the second letter of the Norwegian alphabet
    • 1873, Henrik Ibsen, Kærlighedens komedie, page 14:
      [ordet «neste»] skulde ud af verden uden nåde, som b og g af Knudsens grammatik
      [the word «next»] was to come out of the world without grace, as b and g of Knudsen's grammar
  3. Denoting the second, or number two, on a scale, order or degree.
    • 2003, Espen Søbye, Kathe, alltid vært i Norge:
      øverst i oppgang b lå den nye presteboligen med åtte rom, hall, entré og kjøkken
      at the top of entrance b was the new parsonage with eight rooms, hall, entrance and kitchen
    B-post, B-lag, blodtype B, energiklasse B ― B-post, B-team, blood type B, energy class B
    øl i klasse B ― beer with 0.7–2.75 volume percent alcohol
    førerkort klasse B ― driving license class B
    plan B ― plan B
  4. the second highest grade in a school or university using the A-F scale
    • 2019, Helene Uri, Stillheten etterpå, page 14:
      jeg har gode karakterer. Bare A-er og B-er
      I have good grades. Only A's and B's
    få B til eksamen
    receive an B on an exam
  5. (music) the tone h lowered by half a step
    • 1944, Børre Qvamme, Musikk, page 35–36:
      enhver tone er mangetydig, fiss er også gess, diss er ess, b er aiss og så videre
      every tone is ambiguous, fiss is also gess, diss is ace, b is aiss and so on
    • 2000, Bjørnar Pedersen og Egil Birkeland, Hillman Hunter:
      skotske sekkepiper stemmes i B
      Scottish bagpipes are tuned in B
    B-dur og B-moll
    B major and B minor
    stemt i B ― tuned so that a C on the instrument sounds like B in the normal scale
  6. (music) a B-flat (sign indicating that the following note is to be lowered by half a step)
    • 1974, Jens Bjørneboe, Haiene, page 98:
      ingen vil påstå at notebladet med nøkler, kryss og b’er er selve musikken
      no one will claim that the sheet music with keys, crosses and bs is the music itself
  7. Abbreviation of bass (“bass”).
  8. (physics) symbol for bel (“bel”)
  9. (chemistry) symbol for bor (“boron”)

ReferencesEdit

AnagramsEdit

PolishEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The third letter of the Polish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

PortugueseEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

RomaniEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

RomanianEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The fourth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called be or bî and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit

Etymology 2Edit

Proper nounEdit

B

  1. Abbreviation of București, the capital city of Romania.

SaanichEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B

  1. The fourth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

Skolt SamiEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (lower case b)

  1. The third letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

SloveneEdit

 
Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sl

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Slovene alphabet, called b or be and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

SomaliEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B upper case (lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Somali alphabet, called ba and written in the Latin script.

Usage notesEdit

The second letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows the Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by ' and followed by T.

See alsoEdit

SpanishEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Spanish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

Derived termsEdit

See alsoEdit

TurkishEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Turkish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

VietnameseEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓe˧˧], [ʔɓe˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˦˩], [ʔɓəː˦˩]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
  • Phonetic: bê, bê bò, bờ

LetterEdit

B (lower case b)

  1. The fourth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called bê, bê bò, or bờ and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

WelshEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Welsh alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by A and followed by C.

MutationEdit

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
Bangor Fangor Mangor unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

See alsoEdit

Further readingEdit

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “B”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

YorubaEdit

PronunciationEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called bí and written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

ZuluEdit

LetterEdit

B (upper case, lower case b)

  1. The second letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See alsoEdit

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