bae

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɪ/, enPR: bā

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophone: bay

Etymology 1

Syncopic form of babe or baby. Notably, it is sometimes incorrectly linked to the unrelated Danish word bæ (“poop”). Sometimes claimed to derive from "before anyone else", a possible backronym.

Noun

bae (plural baes)

1. (slang) Darling (term of endearment).
   • 2013, "Jack", "Jack & Jill: On High School Relationships", The Torch (St. John's University), Volume 91, Issue 5, 28 August 2013, page 9:

     And if you actually want to see your bae – you know, like in person – You better set aside some of your refund check to pay for the $26 train ticket to a school that lingers outside of the tri-state area.

   • 2014, Laken Howard, "Pillow Talk: Let's talk about V-day", The Current (entertainment insert of The Daily Northwestern, Northwestern University), 13 February 2014, page 3:

     Your newsfeed gets clogged with statuses like “Happy Valentine’s Day to my bae! I’ve loved you so much ever since we first met three months, eight days, 11 hours and 27 minutes ago!”

   • 2014, "How Steamy Is Your PDA?", Seventeen, June/July 2014, page 98:

     A fresh pic of you and your bae on vacay together? Who wouldn't “like” that?!?

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:bae.

   Synonyms: babe, baby, darling, dear, love, sweetheart, loved one, significant other, special someone

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Korean 배 (bae).

Noun

bae (plural baes)

1. Asian pear.

Etymology 3

From Old French bay, combined with aphetized form of abay; verbal form Old French baier, abaier.

Verb

bae (third-person singular simple present baes, present participle baeing, simple past and past participle baed)

1. (intransitive) To make the sound of a wild animal, to bay.
   • c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 3, scene 3, line 70:

     He's a lamb indeed, that baes like a bear.

   • c. 1608, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, act 2, scene 1, line 10:

     ...the ewe that will not hear her lamb when it baes will never answer a calf when he bleats.

Anagrams

• ABE, AEB, Abe, Abé, BEA, Bea, EAB, a-be, abe, aeb, eba

Acehnese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baʔə/

Verb

bae

1. to wail

Bislama

Particle

bae

1. Alternative form of bambae

Marshallese

Pronunciation

• (phonetic) IPA^(key): , (enunciated)
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /pˠæɰjɛj/
• Bender phonemes: {bahyey}

Etymology 1

Noun

bae

1. (Ratak) bamboo

Synonyms

• (Rālik) koba

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English pie, from Middle English pye, pie, probably from Latin pīca (“magpie, jay”) (from the idea of the many ingredients put into pies likened to the tendency of magpies to bring a variety of objects back to their nests).

Noun

bae

1. a pie

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Pijin

Etymology

From English by and by.

Particle

bae

1. Future tense marker

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /baːɨ̯/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /bai̯/
• Rhymes: -aːɨ̯

Etymology 1

From English bay, from French baie.

Noun

bae m (plural baeau)

1. (geography) bay
2. bay, parking space

   baeau anabl ― disabled bays

Derived terms

• Bae Colwyn (“Colwyn Bay”)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

bae

1. Alternative form of bai

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “bae”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Zhuang

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /pai˨˦/
• Tone numbers: bae¹
• Hyphenation: bae

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tai *pajᴬ (“to go”). Cognate with Thai ไป (bpai), Northern Thai ᨻᩱ (pai), Khün ᨻᩱ (pai), Lao ໄປ (pai), Lü ᦺᦔ (ṗay) and ᦺᦗ (pay), Tai Dam ꪼꪜ, Shan ပႆ (pǎi), Aiton ပႝ (pay), Bouyei bail.

Verb

bae (Sawndip forms 𭆛 or 丕 or 批 or 䢙 or 贝 or 𫨰, 1957–1982 spelling bəi)

1. to go
2. to walk
3. to operate; to run
4. to spend; to use
5. to remove; to get rid of
6. to be lost (from one's possession)
7. (of a liquid) to lose; to leak (gas)
8. (of a firearm) to go off accidentally; to discharge accidentally
9. to deviate
10. (euphemistic) to pass away

Derived terms

Particle

bae (Sawndip forms 𭆛 or 丕 or 批 or 䢙 or 贝 or 𫨰, 1957–1982 spelling bəi)

1. Used after a verb to indicate removal of an object.

Etymology 2

From Chinese 批 (MC phej).

Verb

bae (1957–1982 spelling bəi)

1. to criticize
2. to judge; to critique
3. to comment on; to correct
4. to approve

Etymology 3

Compare Cantonese 批 (pai1, “to plaster”).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Verb

bae (1957–1982 spelling bəi)

1. to plaster; to coat