bir

See also: Bir and bír

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *bira, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰérus (compare Old English byre, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂 (baur, “son”)). Phonetically and semantically close to Messapic *bilia (“daughter”) and *biles (“son”), Matzinger reconstructs two different roots: Proto-Albanian *bʰi-ro and Proto-Messapic *bʰi-lo, both from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH (“to grow, become”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biɾ/

Noun

bir m (indefinite plural bij, definite singular biri, definite plural bijtë)

1. son

References

---

Azerbaijani

Other scripts
Cyrillic	бир
Roman	bir
Perso-Arabic	بیر‎

Azerbaijani cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : bir     Ordinal : birinci

Etymology

From Old Anatolian Turkish بر‎ (bir), ultimately from Proto-Turkic *bīr, *bir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bir]

Numeral

bir

1. one

Derived terms

• bir-bir (“one by one”)
• bir-birini (“each other”)
• birdən, birdən-birə (“suddenly”)

---

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bīr (“one”).

Numeral

Crimean Tatar cardinal numbers

	1	2  >
Cardinal : bir     Ordinal : birinci

bir

1. one

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

---

Gagauz

Gagauz cardinal numbers

	1	2  >
Cardinal : bir     Ordinal : birinci

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bīr (“one”)

Numeral

bir

1. one

---

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch bier.

Noun

bir (plural bir-bir, first-person possessive birku, second-person possessive birmu, third-person possessive birnya)

1. beer

See also

• perut gendut

---

Interlingue

Noun

bir

1. beer

---

Javanese

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch bier (“beer”).

Noun

bir

1. beer

---

Karaim

Karaim cardinal numbers

	1	2  >
Cardinal : bir     Ordinal : birińči

Numeral

bir

1. one

References

1. dnathan.com

---

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from English beer.

Pronunciation

• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /be(r)/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /bɪ(r)/
• Rhymes: -be(r), -e(r)

Noun

bir (Jawi spelling بير‎, informal 1st possessive birku, impolite 2nd possessive birmu, 3rd possessive birnya)

1. beer

Synonyms

• arak

---

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic بِئْر‎ (biʾr).

Noun

bir m (plural bjar)

1. well

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• bire, bur, byre

Etymology

From Old English byre (“strong wind, storm”).

Noun

bir (plural birs)

1. A strong or favorable wind.
   • c. 1540, Destruction of Troy:

     Were blouen to þe brode se in a bir swithe.

2. An armed assault or sally; a clash or encounter; a blow or stroke; an attack or affliction.
   • c. 1540, Destruction of Troy:

     A ᵹonge knight..suet to þe Duke With a bir on þe brest, þat backeward he ᵹode.

3. Violence; strength; fury.
   • c. 1400, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:

     With alle þe bur in his body he ber hit on lofte.

4. An onrush, swiftness.
   • 1425, Wycliffe Bible, Judges 5:22:

     Enemyes fledden with bire.

5. A charge on an account.
   • 1415, Account Rolls of the Abbey of Durham:

     Item in l bir de debito versus Rad'm Forster, 13 d.

Descendants

• English: birr

References

• Middle English Dictionary

---

Middle High German

Etymology

From Old High German bira, from Vulgar Latin pira, plural of Latin pirum.

Noun

bir ? (plural birn)

1. pear

Descendants

• Alemannic German: Biire
• German: Birne
  • → Estonian: pirn
• Luxembourgish: Bir
• Vilamovian: biyn
• Yiddish: באַר‎‎ (bar‎)

---

Old Irish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *beru

Alternative forms

• biur

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲir/

Noun

bir n (genitive bero or bera, nominative plural beura)

1. stake, spit, point; spear, spike
   • c. 845, St. Gall Glosses on Priscian, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1975, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. II, pp. 49–224, Sg. 67b11

     beura glosses sudes (“stake”)

Declension

Neuter u-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	birN, biur	birL, biur	beura
Vocative	birN, biur	birL, biur	beura
Accusative	birN, biur	birL, biur	beura
Genitive	bero, bera	bero, bera	beraeN
Dative	biurL, biur	beraib	beraib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• berach (“pointed”)

Descendants

• Irish: bior
• Scottish Gaelic: bior

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *beru, *beruro- (“spring, well”), said by Matasović to likely be related to *brutus (“fermentation, boiling heat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲir/

Noun

bir (gender unknown, genitive unattested, nominative plural beru)

1. water, spring, well
   • c. 900, Sanas Cormaic, from the Yellow Book of Lecan, Corm. Y 158

     bir .i. uisce ... biror ⁊ inbir ⁊ tobur

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲirʲ/

Verb

·bir

1. second-person singular present indicative conjunct of beirid

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
bir	bir pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/	mbir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• C. Marstrander, E. G. Quin et al., editors (1913–76), “1 bir (‘stake, spit’)”, in Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, →ISBN
• C. Marstrander, E. G. Quin et al., editors (1913–76), “2 bir (‘water, spring’)”, in Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, →ISBN

References

---

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بر‎ (bir, “one”), from Proto-Turkic *bīr (“one”). Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰋𐰃𐰼‎ (bir).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biɾ̝̊/

Article

bir

1. a, an

Noun

bir (definite accusative biri, plural birler)

1. mono
2. single

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	bir
Definite accusative	biri
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bir	birler
Definite accusative	biri	birleri
Dative	bire	birlere
Locative	birde	birlerde
Ablative	birden	birlerden
Genitive	birin	birlerin
Possessive forms Singular Plural 1st singular birim birlerim 2nd singular birin birlerin 3rd singular biri birleri 1st plural birimiz birlerimiz 2nd plural biriniz birleriniz 3rd plural birleri birleri

Numeral

Turkish cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : bir     Ordinal : birinci     Distributive : birer
Turkish Wikipedia article on bir

bir

1. one

---

Turkmen

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bīr (“one”)

Numeral

Turkmen cardinal numbers

	1	2  >
Cardinal : bir     Ordinal : birinji

bir

1. one

---

Uzbek

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bīr (“one”)

Numeral

Uzbek cardinal numbers

	1	2  >
Cardinal : bir     Ordinal : birinchi

bir

1. one

---

Volapük

Alternative forms

• bil (an older term (now obsolete) for "beer", the word bil now means "bile" in reformed Volapük)

Etymology

Reformed in the 1920s from bil, to make it more like its etymons.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bir/, [biɾ]

Noun

bir (nominative plural birs)

1. beer

Declension

declension of bir

	singular	plural
nominative	bir	birs
genitive	bira	biras
dative	bire	bires
accusative	biri	biris
vocative 1	o bir!	o birs!
predicative 2	biru	birus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

• biröp
• hodabir
• vuitabir