Wiktionary

been

See also: Been

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English been (past participle), from Old English (ġe)bēon.

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

been

  1. past participle of be.
    All the fries have been eaten.
    They been here since yesterday. (dialectal, e.g. AAVE, omitting have)
  2. (Southern US or African-American Vernacular) remote past form of be.
    He been had that job.
    We been knew they was doing this.
    • 2013, DayQuan Miller, Back Blocks, StealthMode Entertainment, page 147:
      She was disloyal, Casper was disloyal, so them muthafuckas gotta go. Like you said[,] we been knew we was going to have to kill Frost, so let's do it and Light too.” Star said. “Say no more. I'ma handle Kisha myself.” Max said walking to the door.
Further readingEdit
  • 2015, Alexander Pollatsek, Rebecca Treiman, The Oxford Handbook of Reading, Oxford Library of Psychology (→ISBN), page 433: "For example, the remote past “been” is used as part of the verb to express something that took place in the distant past: 'he been reading story books.'"
  • 2020, Mary Kohn, Walt Wolfram, Charlie Farrington, Jennifer Renn, Janneke Van Hofwegen, African American Language: Language development from Infancy to Adulthood, Cambridge University Press (→ISBN), page 231: "Remote past 'been' ([RPB], coded on word) = been is used to mark action in the remote past; in such cases the word been is always stressed (e.g., he been[RPB] had that job; I been[RPB] bought her clothes)."

Etymology 2Edit

Either from Middle English been (“to be”, infinitive) (from Old English bēon), or from a dialectal use of the preceding past tense form as an infinitive form (compare dialectal use of (I)'s, (I) is in the first person, (he) am in the third person, etc).

VerbEdit

been

  1. (Southern US or African-American Vernacular, rare) Synonym of be (infinitival sense).
    It useta been five foot long.
    • 1875, Minstrel Gags and End Men's Hand-book, New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, page 83; republished New York: Literature House, 1969:
      "Bones", says he, "I tink dey's a-goin' to been a war ober de Alabamy question […]
    • 1888, Mary Augusta Ward, “Book I”, in Robert Elsmere‎[1], London: Macmillan and Company, page 20:
      Yur a boald 'un to tell the missus theer to hur feeace as how ya wur 'tossicatit whan ya owt to been duing yur larful business.
    • 1966, quoting DARE Tape SC10, “be v”, in Frederic G. Cassidy; Joan Houston Hall, editors, Dictionary of American Regional English‎[2], volume 1, Harvard University Press, published 1985, page 178:
      […] But one time it use' to been so cold right first of the winter.

Etymology 3Edit

From Middle English been (plural indicative form).

VerbEdit

been

  1. (obsolete) plural simple present of be.
    • 1584, George Peele, The Arraignment of Paris, I, ii
      My love is fair, my love is gay,
      As fresh as been the flowers in May;
    • c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon,  […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act II, Prologue]:
      Where when men been, there's ſeldome eaſe,
    • 1641, Ben Jonson, The Sad Shepherd, I, iii
      O Friar, those are faults that are not seen,
      Ours open, and of worse example been.
    • 1686, Edward Fairfax, transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne: Or, The Recovery of Jerusalem‎[3], 20, page 8:
      Some of green Boughs their slender Cabbins frame, / Some lodged were Tortoſa's streets about, / Of all the Hoſt the Chief of Worth and Name / Aſſembled been, a Senate grave and ſtout;

Etymology 4Edit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

been

  1. (UK dialectal) plural of bee

ReferencesEdit

Vaux, Bert and Scott Golder. 2003. The Harvard Dialect Survey: been. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Linguistics Department.

AnagramsEdit

AfrikaansEdit

 
Afrikaans Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia af

EtymologyEdit

From Dutch been, from Middle Dutch bêen, from Old Dutch bēn, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

been (plural bene or beendere, diminutive beentjie)

  1. leg of a human or humanoid
  2. bone
  3. (in the diminutive) Synonym of ossikel (“ossicle”)

Usage notesEdit

  • The plural beendere is used alternatively in the sense “bone”, especially collectively.

SynonymsEdit

  • poot (leg, of an animal)
  • boud (leg, a cut of meat)

Derived termsEdit

BasqueEdit

NounEdit

been

  1. genitive plural of be

DutchEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle Dutch bêen, from Old Dutch bēn, from Proto-West Germanic *bain, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

NounEdit

been n (plural benen, diminutive beentje n)

  1. leg, limb of a person, horse (other animals' would have poten) and certain objects (again many have poten)
    De benen van een passer. ― The legs of a pair of compasses.
  2. (mathematics) side, leg
    De benen van een hoek. ― The sides of an angle.
  3. the upper part of a sock, above the ankle.
Usage notesEdit
  • The contemporary plural benen is derived from an analogy to other nouns with regular plurals. Originally, been was left unchanged in the plural; such use in preserved only in set phrases like op de been (“upright, standing, awake”).

NounEdit

been n (plural beenderen or benen, diminutive beentje n)

  1. bone, constituent part of a skeleton.
    Synonyms: bot, knook, knekel
  2. (uncountable) bone, the chalky material bones are made of.
    Synonym: bot
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
  • Afrikaans: been
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: been
  • Jersey Dutch: beîn
  • Negerhollands: been
  • → Arawak: bèna

Etymology 2Edit

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

VerbEdit

been

  1. first-person singular present indicative of benen
  2. imperative of benen

AnagramsEdit

Dutch Low SaxonEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Low German Been, from Middle Low German bên, from Old Saxon bēn.

NounEdit

been

  1. leg

See alsoEdit

  • German Low German: Been

FinnishEdit

NounEdit

been

  1. genitive/accusative singular of bee

Middle DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Dutch bēn, from Proto-West Germanic *bain, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

NounEdit

bêen n

  1. leg
  2. foot
  3. bone

InflectionEdit

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative formsEdit

DescendantsEdit

Further readingEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From a conflation of Old English bēon and wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *beun and *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *beuną and *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewHeti and a conflation of *h₂wéseti and *h₁ésti.

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

been (third-person singular simple present is, present participle beynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative was, past participle been)

  1. (intransitive) To be; to exist or have existence:
    1. (intransitive) To occur; to come to be.
    2. (with adjective or adverb) To be with a certain quality or in a certain situation.
    3. (transitive) To be to or for someone or something.
  2. (copulative) To be something or someone.
    • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎[4], published c. 1410, Apocalips 3:15, page 118v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:
      I woot þi werkis · foꝛ nei[þer] þou art coold nei[þer] þou art hoot / I wolde þat þou were coold ei[þer] hoot
      I know your actions: you aren't cold, but neither are you hot. I'd like it if you were either cold or hot.
    • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41:
      […] Filip of Repintoun whilis he was a chanoun of Leycetre, Nycol Herforde, dane Geffrey of Pikeringe, monke of Biland and a maistir dyuynyte, and Ioon Purueye, and manye other whiche weren holden rightwise men and prudent […]
      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    1. (with genitive) To be someone's; to be in someone's possession.
    2. (auxiliary) Forms the continuous present and perfect.
    3. (auxiliary) Forms the perfect tense with some intransitive verbs.
  3. (auxiliary) Forms various passive constructions.
Usage notesEdit
  • ben may be used elliptically if the subject, complement, or predicate is implicit.
  • The perfect tense is usually formed with haven; see that entry for more.
ConjugationEdit
Conjugation of been (irregular, suppletive)
infinitive (to) been, be
present tense past tense
1st-person singular am, be was
2nd-person singular art, bist were
3rd-person singular is, bith was
subjunctive singular be were
imperative singular —
plural1 aren, are, been, be weren, were
subjunctive plural1 been, be
imperative plural beth, be —
participles beynge, beende been, be, ybeen, ybe

1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Old French and Medieval Latin, from Arabic بَان‎ (bān, “ben tree”).

NounEdit

been

  1. ben (moringa tree)
DescendantsEdit

ReferencesEdit

Etymology 3Edit

From Old English bēon, nominative plural form of bēo, from Proto-Germanic *bijōniz, nominative plural form of *bijǭ. Equivalent to bee +‎ -en (plural suffix).

NounEdit

been

  1. plural of bee (“bee”)

Etymology 4Edit

From Old English ġebēon, past participle of bēon (“to be”); equivalent to y- +‎ be +‎ -en (participial suffix).

Alternative formsEdit

VerbEdit

been

  2. past participle of been (“to be”)
DescendantsEdit

Etymology 5Edit

From (with the -þ replaced with an -n leveled in from the past and subjunctive) Old English bēoþ, present plural of bēon (“to be”), from Proto-Germanic *biunþi, third-person present plural of *beuną (“to be, become”).

Alternative formsEdit

VerbEdit

been

  1. plural present indicative of been (“to be”)
Usage notesEdit

The usual plural form of been is aren in the North, been in the Midlands, and beth in the South; sind also existed, especially early on, but was not the predominant form in any area.

DescendantsEdit
  • English: been (obsolete as the plural)

Etymology 6Edit

From Old English bēon, present subjunctive plural of bēon (“to be”), from Proto-Germanic *biwīn, third-person present subjunctive plural of *beuną (“to be, become”).

VerbEdit

been

  1. plural present subjunctive of been (“to be”)
DescendantsEdit
  • English: be
  • Scots: be

Etymology 7Edit

NounEdit

been (plural beenes or beenen)

  1. Alternative form of bene (“bean”)

ScotsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English ybeen, from Old English ġebēon, past participle of bēon (“to be”).

VerbEdit

been

  1. past participle of be

YolaEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English bee, from Old English bēo, from Proto-Germanic *bijō.

NounEdit

been

  1. bees

ReferencesEdit

  • Jacob Poole (1867), 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, page 25
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