Etymology Edit From Middle English byen biggen buggen Old English bycġan “ to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell ” ), from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną “ to buy ” ), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bhūgh- “ to bend ” ), or from Proto-Indo-European *bheugh- “ to take away, deliver ” ). Cognate with Scots by “ to buy, purchase ” ), obsolete Dutch beugen “ to buy ” ), Old Saxon buggian buggean “ to buy ” ), Old Norse byggja “ to procure a wife, lend at interest, let out ” ), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 bugjan “ to buy ” ).
Pronunciation Edit buy (third-person singular simple present buys present participle buying simple past bought past participle bought or ( rare, dialectal ) boughten
( transitive ) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods
I'm going to buy my father something nice for his birthday. Benjamin Franklin
Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
( transitive ) To obtain by some sacrifice.
I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams. Bible, Proverbs xxiii. 23
Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
( transitive ) To bribe .
He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs. ( transitive ) To be equivalent to in value.
The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to. ( transitive , informal ) to accept as true; to believe
I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore! ( intransitive ) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a meal)
She buys for Federated. Let's go out for dinner. I'm buying . ( poker slang , transitive ) To make a bluff , usually a large one.
Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff Derived terms Edit
Terms derived from buy (verb)
Related terms Edit Translations Edit
to obtain something with money
Abkhaz: please add this translation if you can
Afrikaans: koop
Ainu: ホㇰ hok )
Albanian: blej (sq)
Amharic: መግዛት mägzat )
Arabic: اِشْتَرَى (ar) (ištarā )
Egyptian Arabic: اشترى ištarā )
Moroccan Arabic: شرى šra )
Armenian: գնել (hy) (gnel ), առնել (hy) (aṙnel )
Aromanian: acumpãr
Asturian: mercar comprar
Avar: бичун босизе bičun bosize )
Azeri: satın almaq
Basque: erosi (eu)
Belarusian: купля́ць impf kupljácʹ ), купі́ць pf kupícʹ )
Bengali: কেনা kena )
Breton: prenañ (br)
Bulgarian: купу́вам (bg) impf kupúvam )
Burmese: ဝယ် (my) (wai )
Catalan: comprar (ca)
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵙⵖ sγ ), ⴰⵖ aγ )
Chechen: please add this translation if you can
Chinese:
Cantonese: 買 买 maai5 )
Mandarin: 買 (zh) , 买 (zh) (mǎi )
Chuukese: kamö
Corsican: cumprà (co)
Crimean Tatar: satın almaq
Czech: kupovat (cs) impf
Danish: købe (da)
Dutch: kopen (nl) , aanschaffen (nl)
Esperanto: aĉeti (eo)
Estonian: ostma
Faroese: keypa
Finnish: ostaa (fi)
French: acheter (fr)
Friulian: comprâ
Galician: comprar (gl)
Georgian: ყიდვა q̇idva )
German: kaufen (de)
Gothic: 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 bugjan
Greek: αγοράζω (el) (agorázo )
Ancient: ὠνέομαι ōnéomai )
Guaraní: jogua
Haitian Creole: achte
Hausa: sáyṓ
Hawaiian: kūʻai
Hebrew: קָנָה (he) (kaná )
Hindi: मोल लेना mol lenā ), ख़रीदना xarīdnā )
Hungarian: vásárol (hu) , vesz (hu)
Icelandic: kaupa (is)
Ido: komprar (io)
Indonesian: membeli (id)
Interlingua: comprar emer
Irish: ceannaigh
Istriot: cunprà
Italian: comprare (it)
Japanese: 買う (ja) (かう , kau購入する (ja) (こうにゅうする, kōnyū surú )
Kazakh: сатып алу (kk) (satıp alw )
Khmer: ទិញ (km) (tɨñ )
Korean: 사다 (ko) (sada ), 구입하다 (ko) (gu-iphada )
Kurdish: kirrîn (ku) , standin (ku)
Sorani: کڕین (ku) (kirrîn
Kyrgyz: сатып алуу (ky) (satıp aluu )
Ladin: comprer
Lao: ຊື້ sư̄ )
Latgalian: pierkt
Latin: emo (la) , sumo (la)
Latvian: pirkt (lv) , nopirkt
Lithuanian: pirkti (lt)
Luxembourgish: kafen
Macedonian: ку́пува impf kúpuva )
Malay: beli
Maltese: xtara
Mongolian: авах (mn) (avah )
Navajo: nayiiłniih
Neapolitan: accattà
Nepali: किन्नु (ne) (kinnu )
Ngazidja Comorian: uhula
Norman: acater ( Jersey ) acataer ( continental Normandy )
North Frisian: ( Föhr-Amrum ) kuupe
Norwegian: kjøpe (no)
Occitan: crompar (oc)
Old English: bycgan
Old Norse: kaupa byggja
Old Saxon: buggian
Ossetian: please add this translation if you can
Persian: خریدن (fa) (xaridan )
Polish: kupować (pl) impf kupić (pl) pf
Portuguese: comprar (pt) , adquirir (pt)
Quechua: rantiy (qu)
Romani: kinel
Romanian: cumpăra (ro)
Romansch: cumprar cumprer
Russian: покупа́ть (ru) impf pokupátʹ ), купи́ть (ru) pf kupítʹ )
Sardinian: comparai comporai comporare cumporai comprai
Scottish Gaelic: ceannaich
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: купити pf куповати impf покуповати
Roman: kupiti (sh) pf kupovati (sh) impf pokupovati (sh)
Sicilian: accattari (scn) , cumprari (scn)
Sinhalese: ගන්නවා gannavā )
Slovak: kúpiť pf nakupovať
Slovene: kupiti (sl) pf
Somali: gado iibso
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: kupowaś impf kupiś pf
Upper Sorbian: kupować (hsb) impf kupić pf
Sotho: reka (st)
Spanish: comprar (es)
Swahili: kununua
Swedish: köpa (sv)
Tagalog: bili (tl) , bilhin
Tajik: харидан (tg) (xaridan )
Tamil: வாங்கு (ta) (vāṅku )
Thai: ซื้อ (th) (sʉ́ʉ )
Turkish: satın almak (tr)
Turkmen: satyn almak
Tuvan: садып алыр sadıp alır )
Ukrainian: купува́ти impf kupuváty ), купи́ти pf kupýty )
Urdu: مول لینا mol lēnā ), خریدنا xarīdnā )
Uzbek: sotib olmoq
Venetian: cronpar conprar
Vietnamese: mua (vi)
Walloon: atchter (wa)
Waray-Waray: palit balyo
West Frisian: keape
Yiddish: קויפֿן koyfn )
Yoruba: please add this translation if you can
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations .
Translations to be checked
buy (plural buys
Something which is bought; a purchase .
At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy .
Derived terms Edit Translations Edit References Edit