busy

Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bysiġ, *biesiġ, bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-Germanic *bisigaz (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”), Old Frisian bisgia (“to use”), Old English bisgian (“to occupy, employ, trouble, afflict”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɪ/ is from the dialects of the East Midlands.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĭz'i, IPA^(key): /ˈbɪzi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪzi

Adjective

busy (comparative busier, superlative busiest)

1. Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.
   • Shakespeare

     To-morrow is a busy day.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:busy.

   We crossed a busy street.

2. Engaged in activity or by someone else.
   • 1967, Sleigh, Barbara, Jessamy, 1993 edition, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 18:

     In fact she was so busy doing all the things that anyone might, who finds themselves alone in an empty house, that she did not notice at first when it began to turn dusk and the rooms to grow dim.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:busy.

   The director cannot see you now: he's busy.

   Her telephone has been busy all day.

   He is busy with piano practice.

   They are busy getting ready for the annual meeting.

3. Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.

   Flowers, stripes, and checks in the same fabric make for a busy pattern.

4. Officious; meddling.
   • 1603, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice, IV. ii. 130:

     I will be hanged if some eternal villain, / Some busy and insinuating rogue, / Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office, / Have not devised this slander; I'll be hanged else.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:busy.

Synonyms

• swamped

Related terms

• busy as a beaver
• busy as a bee
• busybody
• busyness
• busy work

Translations

crowded with business or activities

• Dutch: druk (nl)
• French: occupé (fr) m, occupée (fr) f
• Galician: ocupado m
• German: beschäftigt (de)
• Greek: πολυσύχναστος (el) (polysýchnastos)
• Irish: broidiúil

• Italian: indaffarato (it)
• Japanese: 繁華 (ja) (はんか、hanka)
• Malay: ramai
• Maori: toritori
• Spanish: ocupado (es) m, ocupada f
• Swedish: livlig (sv), (busy roads / streets) livligt trafikerad

doing a great deal

• Afrikaans: besig
• Albanian: zënë (sq)
• American Sign Language: B@RadialWrist-PalmForward-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmDown Sidetoside
• Arabic: مَشْغُول‎ (mašḡūl)
• Armenian: զբաղված (hy) (zbałvac)
• Azerbaijani: məşğul (az)
• Belarusian: за́няты (zánjaty)
• Bulgarian: деен (bg) (deen), за́ет (bg) (záet)
• Catalan: ocupat (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 唔得閒 (m⁴ dak¹ haan⁴)

  Mandarin: 忙 (zh) (máng), 繁忙 (zh) (fánmáng)

  Min Dong: 忙 (mòng)

• Czech: zaměstnaný (cs) m, (of person) zaneprázděný m
• Danish: travl (da)
• Dutch: bezig (nl)
• Esperanto: okupata
• Estonian: toimekas
• Finnish: kiireinen (fi), työntäyteinen (fi)
• French: occupé (fr)
• Galician: trang
• Georgian: დაკავებული (daḳavebuli)
• German: beschäftigt (de)
• Greek: πολυάσχολος (el) (polyáscholos)

  Ancient Greek: ἄσχολος (áskholos)

• Hebrew: עָסוּק‎ m ('asúq), עסוקה‎ f ('asuqa)
• Hindi: व्यस्त (hi) (vyast), मसरूफ़ (masrūf), मशग़ूल (maśġūl)
• Hungarian: foglalt (hu)
• Icelandic: upptekinn
• Ido: okupata (io)
• Indonesian: sibuk (id)
• Irish: gnóthach
• Italian: occupato (it)
• Japanese: 忙しい (ja) (いそがしい, isogashii), (in the middle of something) 使用中 (しようちゅう, shiyō-chū)
• Khmer: រវីរវល់ (rɔvʊəl)
• Korean: 바쁜 (bappeun), 바쁘다 (ko) (bappeuda) (predicative)

• Lao: ຄາວຽກ, ຫຍຸ້ງ (nyung)
• Latin: operosus m
• Latvian: nodarbināts
• Lithuanian: užsiėmusiam
• Macedonian: зафатен (zafaten)
• Malay: sibuk
• Maori: toritori
• Mongolian: завгүй (mn) (zavgüj)
• Norman: embarrassaï (Guernsey)
• Norwegian: travel (no), opptatt
• Papiamentu: okupá
• Pashto: بوخت‎ (ps) (buxt), اخته‎ (ps) (axta)
• Persian: مشغول‎ (fa) (mašğul)
• Polish: zajęty (pl)
• Portuguese: ocupado (pt)
• Romanian: harnic (ro)
• Russian: занято́й (ru) (zanjatój), за́нятый (ru) (zánjatyj), де́ятельный (ru) (déjatelʹnyj) (active)
• Scottish Gaelic: trang
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: прометан, наметљив

  Roman: prometan (sh), nametljiv (sh)

• Slovak: činný
• Slovene: zaposlen
• Spanish: ocupado (es)
• Swahili: bizi
• Swedish: jäktig (sv), flitig (sv)
• Tagalog: okupado (tl)
• Thai: ยุ่ง (th) (yûng)
• Turkish: meşgul (tr)
• Ukrainian: за́йнятий (zájnjatyj)
• Urdu: مصروف‎ (masrūf), مشغول‎ (maśġūl)
• Uyghur: ayighi‎ (ayighi)
• Vietnamese: bận (vi), bận rộn (vi)
• Welsh: prysur (cy)
• West Frisian: beset
• Yiddish: פֿאַרנומען‎ (farnumen)

engaged

• Bulgarian: зает (bg) (zaet)
• Dutch: bezig (nl)
• Finnish: varattu (fi)
• French: occupé (fr)
• Galician: ocupado m
• Georgian: დაკავებული (daḳavebuli)
• German: besetzt (de), beschäftigt (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἐνεργός (energós)

• Hebrew: עסוק‎
• Italian: occupato (it) m
• Korean: please add this translation if you can

• Latin: occupatus m
• Maori: tāuteute
• Norman: embarrassaï
• Norwegian: opptatt, travel (no)
• Pashto: بوخت‎ (ps) (buxt), اخته‎ (ps) (axta)
• Polish: zajęty (pl)
• Portuguese: ocupado (pt)
• Russian: за́нятый (ru) (zánjatyj)
• Spanish: ocupado (es)
• Swedish: upptagen (sv)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרנומען‎ (farnumen)

complicated

• Czech: rušný (cs)
• Dutch: druk (nl)
• Finnish: levoton (fi), sekava (fi)

• Polish: skomplikowany (pl)
• Spanish: complicado (es)

Verb

busy (third-person singular simple present busies, present participle busying, simple past and past participle busied)

1. (transitive) To make somebody busy, to keep busy with, to occupy, to make occupied.
   • On my vacation I'll busy myself with gardening.
2. (transitive) To rush somebody.

Derived terms

• bebusy
• forebusy
• overbusy
• unbusy

Translations

to keep busy with

• Bulgarian: занимавам (bg) (zanimavam)
• Czech: zaměstnávat
• Finnish: puuhailla (fi), askaroida, työllistää (fi)
• French: se livrer (fr)

• German: beschäftigen (de)
• Maori: w(h)aihanga
• Norwegian: sysselsette

  Bokmål: beskjeftige

to rush somebody

• Finnish: hoputtaa (fi)

Noun

busy (plural busies)

1. (slang, Britain, Liverpudlian, derogatory) A police officer.

References

Anagrams

• buys

---

Middle English

Adjective

busy (comparative bisiere, superlative bisiest)

1. Alternative form of bisy

References

• “bisi (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 June 2018.