Wiktionary

by

See also: BY, bý, by-, by., -by, .by, and b'y

EnglishEdit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative formsEdit

  • bye (archaic for preposition and adverb, not used for abbreviation, preferred for noun and interjection)

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English by, bi, from Old English bī (“by; near; around”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near; by; around; about”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi. Cognate with West Frisian by (“by; near”), Afrikaans by (“at; by; near”), Saterland Frisian bie (“near; by”), Dutch bij (“near; by”), German Low German bi (“by; near; at”), German bei (“by; near; at”).

PronunciationEdit

PrepositionEdit

by

  1. Near or next to.
    The mailbox is by the bus stop.
  2. From one side of something to the other, passing close by; past.
    The stream runs by our back door.
    He ran straight by me.
  3. Not later than (the given time); not later than the end of (the given time interval).
    Be back by ten o'clock!.
    We'll find someone by the end of March.
    We will send it by the first week of July.
  4. Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
    1. Following a passive verb.
      The matter was decided by the chairman.
      The boat was swamped by the water.
      He was protected by his body armour.
      • 2011 September 28, Jon Smith, “Valencia 1-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
        Valencia threatened sporadically in the first half with Miguel having a decent effort deflected wide by Ashley Cole, while Jordi Alba's near-post cross was flicked into the sidenetting by Pablo Hernandez.
    2. Following a noun.
      There was a call by the unions for a 30% pay rise.
    3. (not in common modern use) Following an adjective.
      I was aghast by what I saw.
      • 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, 2005 Barnes & Noble Classics publication of 1912 Wessex edition, p.109:
        In other directions the fields and sky were so much of one colour by the snow that it was difficult in a hasty glance to tell whereabouts the horizon occurred […].
  5. Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.
    There are many well-known plays by William Shakespeare
  6. Indicates a means of achieving something: Involving/using the means of.
    I avoided the guards by moving only when they weren't looking.
    By Pythagoras' theorem, we can calculate the length of the hippopotamus.
    We went by bus.
    I discovered it by chance.
    By 'maybe' she means 'no'.
    The electricity was cut off, so we had to read by candlelight.
    • 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, OCLC 491297620:
      "I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal. […]"
    • 1945, Neva L. Boyd, Handbook of Recreational Games, 1975 Dover edition, →ISBN, p.16:
      Players: Can we get there by candlelight? ¶ Gatekeepers: Yes and back again.
    • 1960, Dr. Seuss, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
      By the light of the moon, / by the light of a star / they walked all night
  8. Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
    By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.
    1. Invokes an authority in an oath.
      By Jove! I think she's got it!
      By all that is holy, I'll put an end to this.
      • 1596-99, Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act V, scene i:
        By yonder moon I swear you do me wrong
      • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
        'By my soul! I believe something bad has happened me,' he muttered, and popped up his window, and looked out, half dreaming over the church-yard on the park beyond […]
  9. Indicates a means of classification or organisation.
    I sorted the items by category.
    Table 1 shows details of our employees broken down by sex and age.
  10. Indicates the amount of change, difference or discrepancy
    Our stock is up by ten percent.
    His date of birth was wrong by ten years.
  11. In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
    We went through the book page by page.
    We crawled forward by inches.
  12. (with the) Acted on in units of the specified size or measure. (Sometimes hyperbolically)
    sold by the yard; cheaper if bought by the gross
    He drinks brandy by the bucketful!
  13. per; with or in proportion to each.
    His health was deteriorating by the day.
    The pickers are paid by the bushel.
  14. Indicates a referenced source: According to.
    He cheated by his own admission.
    By my reckoning, we should be nearly there.
    • 1722, William Wollaston, “Sect. V. Truths relating to the Deity. Of his exiſtence, perfection, providence, &c.”, in The Religion of Nature Delineated‎[1], page 81:
      Ignorant and ſuperſtitious wretches meaſure the actions of letterd and philoſophical men by the tattle of their nurſes or illiterate parents and companions, or by the faſhion of the country : and people of differing religions judge and condemn each other by their own tenents ; when both of them cannot be in the right, and it is well if either of them are.
  15. Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
    It is easy to invert a 2-by-2 matrix.
    The room was about 4 foot by 6 foot.
    The bricks used to build the wall measured 10 by 20 by 30 cm.
  16. (horse breeding) Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of.
    She's a lovely little filly, by Big Lad, out of Damsel in Distress.
  17. (chiefly Yeshivish) At, with, among
    Are you eating by Rabbi Fischer? (at the house of)
    By Chabad, it's different. (with, among)

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

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

AdverbEdit

by (not comparable)

  1. Along a path which runs past the speaker.
    I watched as it passed by.
  2. In the vicinity, near.
    There was a shepherd close by.
  3. To or at a place, as a residence or place of business.
    I'll stop by on my way home from work.
    We're right near the lifeguard station. Come by before you leave.
  4. Aside, away.
    The women spent much time after harvest putting jams by for winter and spring.

Derived termsEdit

terms derived from by (adverb)

TranslationsEdit

AdjectiveEdit

by (not comparable)

  1. Out of the way, off to one side.
    a by path, a by room
  2. Subsidiary, incidental.
    by catch, a by issue

Usage notesEdit

More usually in compounds, either hyphenated (e.g. by-product) or closed (e.g. byproduct); see also by-.

AntonymsEdit

Derived termsEdit

NounEdit

by (plural bys)

  1. Alternative form of bye.

InterjectionEdit

by

  1. Alternative spelling of bye.

AnagramsEdit

AfrikaansEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Dutch bij, from Middle Dutch bi, from Old Dutch bī.

PrepositionEdit

by

  1. at
  2. to
  3. by
Derived termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Dutch bij, from Middle Dutch bie, from Old Dutch *bīa.

NounEdit

by (plural bye)

  1. bee
Derived termsEdit

CzechEdit

PronunciationEdit

ParticleEdit

by

  1. third-person singular conditional subjunctive of být; would
    Vstával by dřív, ale to by si napřed musel koupit budík.
    He would be getting up earlier, but then he would have to buy an alarm clock first.
  2. (clipping, informal); would
    Byl by tam šel, kdyby mě byli pozvali.
    I would have gone there if they had invited me.
    My by tam šli, kdyby nás byli pozvali.
    We would have gone there if they had invited us.

Usage notesEdit

  • In formal language, it is used for the third person of the infinitive být, both singular and plural and with the second person of the verb být.
    Zahrál by sis jednu hru? ― Would you [like to] play one game?
  • In colloquial Czech, by is commonly used in place of other conditional forms of být in both singular and plural if the subject is deducible from context (from the conjugated form of the verb). That is, by is a shared shorthand for bych, bys, bychom and byste.

Related termsEdit

Further readingEdit

  • by in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • by in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

DanishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Norse býr, bœr (settlement).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

by c (singular definite byen, plural indefinite byer)

  1. town, city

InflectionEdit

Declension of by
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative by byen byer byerne
genitive bys byens byers byernes

Related termsEdit

Related terms →

Further readingEdit

JapaneseEdit

EtymologyEdit

Borrowed from English by.

PronunciationEdit

ParticleEdit

by(バイ) • (bai) 

  1. (informal) Used to sign off a message/attribute a text.
    • 2002, [2]
      ココにはバッファから生成したMAPのTEXTURE希望　by JAMAD
    • 2007, 『さよなら絶望先生』 第5話[3]
      己を知らされば、戦う毎に必ず殆し。by 孫子
    • 2009, 『けいおん！』 第4話[4]
      めざせ武道館！！　by 軽音部！

Lower SorbianEdit

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

by (defective, invariable)

  1. would (used with the past active participle to form a conditional)
    Njecynimy to, dokulaž by jim škóźeło.
    We don’t do that because it would hurt them.

Usage notesEdit

This verb may be omitted before the past active participles of móc (“be able to”), kśěś (“want to”), and dejaś (“ought to”).

Derived termsEdit

  • aby (“that...would”)
  • gaby (“if...would”)
  • gdyby (“if...would”)
  • njeby (“would not”)

Further readingEdit

  • Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928), “by”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
  • Starosta, Manfred (1999), “by”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

ManxEdit

Alternative formsEdit

ParticleEdit

by (triggers lenition)

  1. past/conditional of s'
    By vie lhiam goll myrgeddin.
    I want to go as well.
    B'laik lhiam briaght jiu c'red bare lhiu jannoo jiu.
    I'd like to ask you what you'd prefer to do today.
  2. (dated) Past and conditional form of s' (used to introduce the comparative and superlative form of adjectives)
    yn dooinney by hroshey ― the man who was the strongest

Middle EnglishEdit

VerbEdit

by

  1. be

Norwegian BokmålEdit

 
Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Old Norse býr (“place (to camp or settle), land, property, lot; and later settlement”).

NounEdit

by m (definite singular byen, indefinite plural byer, definite plural byene)

  1. town, city (regardless of population size or land area)
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from by

Etymology 2Edit

From byde, from Old Norse bjóða, from Proto-Germanic *beudaną (“to offer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to wake, rise up”).

Alternative formsEdit

VerbEdit

by (imperative by, present tense byr, simple past bød or bøy or bydde, past participle budt or bydd)

  1. to bid; offer
  2. to ask; invite
  3. to command; order

ReferencesEdit

Norwegian NynorskEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Old Norse býr m, bœr m (“place (to camp or settle), land, property, lot; and later settlement”). Doublet of bø.

NounEdit

by m (definite singular byen, indefinite plural byar, definite plural byane)

  1. town, city (regardless of population size or land area)
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Old Norse bjóða, from Proto-Germanic *beudaną (“to offer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to wake, rise up”). Akin to English bid

Alternative formsEdit

VerbEdit

by (present tense byr, past tense baud or bydde, supine bode or bydd or bydt, past participle boden or bydd, present participle bydande, imperative by)

  1. to command, order
    Eg byd deg å stoppe.
    I command you to stop.
  2. to bid, offer
    Eg byd deg 100 kroner.
    I offer you a 100 NOK.
  3. to offer
    Bestemor baud på småkaker.
    Granny offered us cookies.
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • “by” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  • “by” in The Ordnett Dictionary

PolishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-Slavic *by.

PronunciationEdit

ParticleEdit

by

  1. (always before a verb) a particle used to make conditional mood; would, would've
    On by tam nie poszedł. = On nie poszedłby tam. — He would not go there.
singular plural
1st person bym byśmy
2nd person byś byście
3rd person by by

SynonymsEdit

ConjunctionEdit

by

  1. in order to, so that

SynonymsEdit

Further readingEdit

  • by in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • by in Polish dictionaries at PWN

ScotsEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English bi, from Old English bi, from Proto-West Germanic *bī. Cognates include English by and Yola bee.

PronunciationEdit

PrepositionEdit

by

  1. by
  2. (in comparisons) than
    • 1894, Robert Hunter, A Treatise on the Law of Landlord and Tenant:
      Archie was auld by me.
      Archie was older than me.
      (literally, “Archie was old by me.”)

AdverbEdit

by

  1. by, nearby

ConjunctionEdit

by

  1. by (the time that)

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “by, prep., adv., conj..” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

SwedishEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Old Swedish bȳr, bȳ (“village, farm, town”), from Old Norse býr. Cognate with Danish by (“town, city”, whence also Faroese býur with the same meaning), Norwegian Bokmål by (“town, city”) and Norwegian Nynorsk by (“town, city”).

NounEdit

by c

  1. village
  2. (obsolete) farm
  3. (obsolete) town, city

DeclensionEdit

Declension of by 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative by byn byar byarna
Genitive bys byns byars byarnas

Derived termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Dutch bui or Low German bö, böe, böje. Cognate with Danish byge, Norwegian Bokmål byge, bøye and Norwegian Nynorsk bye, bøye.

NounEdit

by c

  1. gust, rush of wind

DeclensionEdit

Declension of by 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative by byn byar byarna
Genitive bys byns byars byarnas

Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • by in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
  • by in Nationalencyklopedin (needs an authorization fee).

West FrisianEdit

PronunciationEdit

PrepositionEdit

by

  1. near to
  2. in relation to
    By âlds
    In the olden days

Further readingEdit

  • “by”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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