buy
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English bien, biggen, buggen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, 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”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
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.
- 1793, Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography
- Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
- (transitive) To obtain, especially by some sacrifice.
- I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.
- You just bought yourself an assault charge!
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Proverbs 23:23:
- 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
- 2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber Ltd, page 201:
- People like to say that dead people look asleep, and maybe she would have bought that under different circumstances.
- I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!
- (intransitive) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a drink, meal or gift)
- 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
Alternative formsEdit
- buie (archaic)
SynonymsEdit
- (obtain in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), purchase
- (accept as true): accept, believe, swallow (informal), take on
- ((intransitive) make a purchase): make a buy
AntonymsEdit
- (obtain in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), sell, vend
- (accept as true): disbelieve, reject, pitch
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from buy (verb)
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to obtain something with money
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to accept as true
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- 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
NounEdit
buy (plural buys)
- Something which is bought; a purchase.
- At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
purchase — see purchase
ReferencesEdit
- buy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- buy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
AnagramsEdit
TatarEdit
NounEdit
buy
WolofEdit
EtymologyEdit
Related to guy (“baobab tree”).
NounEdit
buy (definite form buy bi)