Wiktionary

bien

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bien"

Asturian

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Etymology

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From Latin bene (“well”).

Adverb

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bien

  1. well
  2. a lot, very

Derived terms

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Basque

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Numeral

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bien

  1. genitive plural of bi

Danish

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Noun

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bien c

  1. definite singular of bi

French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French bien, from Old French bien, from Latin bene (“well”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /bjɛ̃/
  • Rhymes: -jɛ̃
  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

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bien (invariable, comparative meilleur)

  1. good, all right, great
  2. good looking, nice

Adverb

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bien (comparative mieux, superlative le mieux)

  1. well
    Ça va bien ? ― How's it going? (literally, “It goes well?”)
    Il joue vraiment bien au football.
    He plays soccer really well.
  2. indeed; so
    Synonym: alors
    Bien, on peut partir maintenant ?
    So, can we leave now?
  3. (followed by de, des, or du) a lot (of)
    Macy Gray a traversé bien des épreuves.
    Macy Gray got through a lot of ordeals.
  4. very; really
    C’est bien aimable à vous. ― it's very considerate of you.
    C’est bien beau, mais... ― It's all very well, but...
    Je te trouve bien silencieux aujourd’hui. ― You seem very quiet today.
    Il est bien moche, ce type. Ce type est vraiment moche. ― That guy is really ugly.
    • 2018, Zaz, On s'en remet jamais:
      Est-ce que les parfums s’évaporent, ou restent-ils dans notre tête comme ces étoiles qui brillent encore, mais qui sont bien loin de la fête ?
      Do the perfumes evaporate, or do they stay in our heads like these stars which still shine, but which are very far from the party?
  5. (in comparisons) much (more, less, better, etc.)
    Jérémie est bien plus fort que moi.
    Jérémie is much stronger than me.
    bien meilleur que […]
    much better than […]

Usage notes

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  • The sense "very" is of restricted use; bien cannot be used interchangeably with très or fort in all contexts.

Derived terms

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Noun

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bien m (plural biens)

  1. good as opposed to evil
  2. a commodity, a good
  3. a possession

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Japanese

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Romanization

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bien

  1. Rōmaji transcription of びえん

Ladino

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Alternative forms

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byén

Etymology

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From Old Spanish from Latin bene (“well”), from Latin bonus (“good”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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bien m (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling ביין, plural bienes)

  1. good
  2. conforming to duty

Adverb

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bien (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling ביין)

  1. good, well

Derived terms

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Middle French

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Etymology

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From Old French bien.

Adverb

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bien

  1. well (in a positive way; in a way that meets or exceeds expectations)
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Descendants

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  • French: bien

References

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  • bien on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
  • Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (bien, supplement)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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bien m or f

  1. definite masculine singular of bie

Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Latin bene.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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bien (comparative and superlative mielz or miex)

  1. well
  2. indeed (used for emphasis)

Noun

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bien oblique singular, m (oblique plural biens, nominative singular biens, nominative plural bien)

  1. possession; object of value
  2. good (as opposed to evil)
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Descendants

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  • Middle French: bien
    • French: bien (adverb and noun)
  • Norman: bein (Jersey), byin (France)
  • Walloon: bén

Spanish

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old Spanish, from Latin bene (“well”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbjen/ [ˈbjẽn]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -en
  • Syllabification: bien

Adverb

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bien

  1. well (adverbial form of bueno)
    Antonym: mal
    Toca bien el piano.
    He plays the piano well.
  2. well, fine, okay (state of being satisfied with the status quo)
    hasta aquí todo bien ― so far so good
  3. properly
  4. willingly
  5. (colloquial) very
    Ya es bien tarde.
    It's so late already.
  6. as well
    Bien podrías acabar con ello temprano.
    You might as well get it over with early.

Derived terms

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Adjective

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bien m or f (masculine and feminine plural bienes)

  1. (postpositive, colloquial) well-to-do; affluent; wealthy; upper-class
    Amanda y Carlos vienen de una familia bien.
    Amanda and Carlos come from a well-to-do family.
  2. (postpositive, colloquial) exclusive; upscale; high-class
    Las colonias bienes están en las afueras de la ciudad.
    The upscale neighborhoods are in the city suburbs.

Derived terms

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Noun

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bien m (plural bienes)

  1. good (as opposed to evil)
    Antonym: mal
    Es por el bien de toda la comunidad.
    It's for the good of the whole community.
  2. goodness
  3. good, better (substantive)
    para bien o para mal ― for better or for worse
    He vuelto para bien esta vez.
    I'm back for good this time.
  4. welfare, benefit
  5. (in the plural) goods, property, possessions, assets, wealth, estate
  6. (dated) darling
    Despierta, mi bien.
    Wake up, my darling.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Volapük

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Biene, English bee.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bien (nominative plural biens)

  1. bee
    • 1959, “Lak drenas”, in Volapükagased, number 2, page 7:
      Böd nonik kanitonöv / us lidi in yof e fred; / kriks, biens us vegonsöv / in seil de bled lü bled.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

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declension of bien
singular plural
nominative bien biens
genitive biena bienas
dative biene bienes
accusative bieni bienis
vocative 1 o bien! o biens!
predicative 2 bienu bienus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

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Terms derived from bien "bee"

See also

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West Frisian

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Etymology

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From Old Frisian bēn, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bien n (plural biennen, diminutive bientsje)

  1. bone
  2. leg

Further reading

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  • “bien”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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