See also: Billig

Danish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from German billig.

Adjective

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billig (neuter billigt, plural and definite singular attributive billige)

  1. cheap
  2. (derogatory) slutty
  3. (dated) fair
Inflection
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Inflection of billig
Positive Comparative Superlative
Indefinte common singular billig billigere billigst2
Indefinite neuter singular billigt billigere billigst2
Plural billige billigere billigst2
Definite attributive1 billige billigere billigste
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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billig

  1. imperative of billige

Dutch

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Adjective

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billig (comparative billiger, superlative billigst)

  1. Alternative form of billijk

Further reading

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billig - instituut voor de Nederlandse taal

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German billich, from Old High German billīh (appropriate), from a suffixed form of Proto-Germanic *biliz (merciful, kind, decent, fair).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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billig (strong nominative masculine singular billiger, comparative billiger, superlative am billigsten)

  1. (formal) appropriate, meet, fair
    Die Strafe ist billig und recht.
    The punishment is appropriate and just.
  2. (informal) cheap (low-priced)
    Synonyms: (archaic) wohlfeil, günstig, preisgünstig, kostengünstig, niedrigpreisig, preiswert
    Antonyms: teuer, hochpreisig
    In Deutschland sind Lebensmittel billiger als in andern europäischen Ländern.
    In Germany, groceries are cheaper than in other European countries.
  3. (low colloquial) cheap (of low quality, mediocre)
    Antonyms: edel, hochwertig
    Das Vorgehen der Regierung ist ein billiges Ablenkungsmanöver.
    The government's course of action is a cheap diversionary tactic.

Usage notes

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The meaning “low-priced” only arose at the end of the 18th century and has been very colloquial and frowned upon until the end of the 19th century, the negative meaning having to arise even later after this word has attained domination in expressing the sense of cheapness in German. This word in the sense “cheap” is still known to be slightly colloquial, so, in formal speech, and because of its multiple senses, like günstig it is avoided in favour of circumscriptions or ungainly adjectives like preisgünstig and niedrigpreisig. Actually, in legal writing the original meaning is the expected one. The classical word for “cheap” is wohlfeil, the use of which now is restricted to chosen style.

Declension

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • billig” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • billig” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • billig” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From Middle Low German billich.

Adjective

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billig (neuter singular billig, definite singular and plural billige, comparative billigere, indefinite plural billigst, definite plural billigste)

  1. cheap, inexpensive

Antonyms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Middle Low German billich.

Adjective

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billig (neuter singular billig, definite singular and plural billige, comparative billigare, indefinite plural billigast, definite plural billigaste)

  1. alternative form of billeg

References

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Swedish

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Etymology

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From Middle Low German billik, billich. Compare German billig and Dutch billijk.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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billig (comparative billigare, superlative billigast)

  1. cheap; of low price, of little worth
    Antonym: dyr
  2. cheap, easy; requiring little effort
  3. (archaic) reasonable, fair
    Antonym: obillig
    en billig begärana reasonable request
    det är rätt och billigtthat is fair and square
  4. (obsolete) honest; decent; honorable
    • 1732-33, Olof von Dalin, Then Swänska Argus :
      Du måste och tilstå sielf, min billiga Läsare, at det är nödigt i wår tid at liuga Sanningen i Folck:

Usage notes

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The original sense was "fair" or "reasonable". Thus ett billigt pris originally meant "a fair price" as opposed to "a low price". Since this sense is now dated (outside of legal contexts), the term låga priser ("low prices") is by many preferred to billiga priser.

Declension

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Inflection of billig
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular billig billigare billigast
Neuter singular billigt billigare billigast
Plural billiga billigare billigast
Masculine plural3 billige billigare billigast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 billige billigare billigaste
All billiga billigare billigaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic
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References

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