ben

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Translingual

Symbol

ben

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Bengali.

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English ben, bene, from Old English bēn (prayer, request, favor, compulsory service), from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (supplication), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (to say). Related to ban. More at boon.

Alternative forms

Noun

ben (plural bens)

  1. (obsolete) A prayer; a petition.

Etymology 2

From Middle English ben, bene, variation of bin, binne (within), from Old English binnan (within, in, inside of, into), equivalent to be- +‎ in.

Preposition

ben

  1. (Scotland, Northern England) In, into.
    • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 32:
      And he was waving to me to creep in, so I just did and then just to skip ben the front and then in the lobby.

Adverb

ben (not comparable)

  1. (Scotland, Northern England) Inside.

Adjective

ben (comparative benner, superlative benmost)

  1. Inner, interior.
Derived terms

Noun

ben (plural bens)

  1. (Scotland, Northern England) Ben-room: The inner room of a two-room hut or shack (as opposed to the but).
Derived terms
References

Etymology 3

From Middle English been, from Old French and Medieval Latin, probably from a North African pronunciation of Arabic بَان (bān, ben tree).

Noun

ben (plural bens)

  1. A tree, Moringa oleifera or horseradish tree of Arabia and India, which produces oil of ben.
  2. The winged seed of the ben tree.
  3. The oil of the ben seed.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 4

From Arabic بِن (bin) and Hebrew בן (ben, son).

Alternative forms

Noun

ben (uncountable)

  1. (usually capitalised) Son of (used with Hebrew and Arabic surnames).
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 5

Borrowed from Scots ben, benn, from Scottish Gaelic beinn.

Noun

ben (plural bens)

  1. A Scottish or Irish mountain or high peak.
Derived terms

Etymology 6

UK C16. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.

Adjective

ben (comparative benar, superlative benat)

  1. (obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) Alternative spelling of bene; good.
    • 1611, Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girle:
      A gage of ben Rom-bouse, / In a bousing-ken of Rom-vile, / Is benar than a Caster, / Pecke, pennam, lay, or popler, / Which we mill in deuse a vile.
      A pot of good wine, / In a pub of London, / Is better than a cloak, / Meat, bread, milk, or porridge, / Which we steal in the countryside.
Derived terms

Etymology 7

Shortening.

Noun

ben (plural bens)

  1. (UK, theater, slang, obsolete) A benefit (performance to raise funds).
    • year?, The Catholic Literary Circular (page 75)
      In the Chronicles of the Stage, some curious particulars are given relating to Sir Henry Herbert and the well-known Sir William Davidson, by which we learn, amongst other things, that a “ben” or benefit at Drury Lane, two centuries ago, was worth a hundred pounds.
References
  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary

See also

Anagrams

Amele

Adjective

ben

  1. big

Noun

ben

  1. a big thing

References

  • Pavol Štekauer, Salvador Valera, Lívia Kőrtvélyessy, Word-Formation in the World's Languages: A Typological Survey (2012)

Berbice Creole Dutch

Noun

ben

  1. bean

References

Catalan

Pronunciation

Adverb

ben

  1. Alternative form of
    Porteu un vestit ben bonic.Wear a very pretty dress.
    Demà al matí ben d'hora m'aixeco i viatjo a Milan.Tomorrow morning quite early I'll get up and travel to Milan.

Usage notes

  • The form ben is used when it precedes the adjective, adverb or verb form that it modifies, and is used in all other cases.

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German wenne, wanne, from Old High German hwenne, hwanne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannā, from *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (when). Cognate with German wenn, wann, English when. Doublet of benn (adverb), from the same Middle High German source.

Conjunction

ben

  1. (Luserna) when
    Khåntamar khön ben 'z tüata offe di pinakotèk?Can you tell me when the art gallery opens?

References

Corsican

Etymology

From (well).

Pronunciation

Noun

ben m

  1. deceased

Adverb

ben

  1. Alternative form of

References

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse bein (bone, leg), from Proto-Germanic *bainą, cognate with English bone, German Bein.

Pronunciation

Noun

ben n (singular definite benet, plural indefinite ben)

  1. leg (a limb of a human or an animal used for walking; also, by analogy, the legs of a desk or a chair)
    Synonym: pusselanke (childish; joking)
  2. bone (any part of the skeleton)
  3. sinecure (a position that requires little to no work but still gives an ample payment; a cushy job.)

Declension

References

Domari

Etymology

From Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀩𑀳𑀺𑀡𑀻 (bahiṇī), from Sanskrit भगिनी (bhaginī). Cognate with Hindi बहन (bahan).

Pronunciation

Noun

ben f

  1. sister

References

  • Matras, Yaron (2012) A Grammar of Domari (Mouton Grammar Library)‎, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 65

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch bim, from Proto-Germanic *beuną.

Pronunciation

Verb

ben

  1. first-person singular present indicative of zijn
  2. (dialectal) imperative of zijn

Usage notes

Ben, as an imperative, is considered non-standard, the standard form being wees.

Synonyms

Descendants

  • Skepi Creole Dutch: ben

References

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse ben, from Proto-Germanic *banjō.

Noun

ben n (genitive singular bens, plural ben)

  1. wound

Declension

Declension of ben
n3 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative ben benið ben benini
accusative ben benið ben benini
dative beni beninum benum benunum
genitive bens bensins bena benanna
Declension of ben
n22 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative ben benið ben benini
accusative ben benið ben benini
dative beni beninum benjum, benum benjunum, benunum
genitive bens bensins benja benjanna

Noun

ben f (genitive singular benjar, plural benjar)

  1. wound

Declension

f8 Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ben benin benjar benjarnar
Accusative ben benina benjar benjarnar
Dative ben benini benjum benjunum
Genitive benjar benjarinnar benja benjanna


Derived terms

French

Etymology 1

Alternative form of bien

Pronunciation

Interjection

ben

  1. (informal) Well; uh
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Clipping of bénard.

Pronunciation

Noun

ben m (plural bens)

  1. (slang) pants, trousers

Further reading

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin bene.

Adverb

ben

  1. well
  2. properly, nicely

Antonyms

Noun

ben

  1. good

Related terms

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese ben, from Latin bene.

Pronunciation

Noun

ben m (plural bens)

  1. benefit; welfare
    Synonym: beneficio
  2. (in the plural) goods
  3. good (the forces that are the enemy of evil)
    Antonym: mal

Related terms

Adverb

ben

  1. well
    Antonym: mal
    Ben feito!Well done!
  2. very; a lot; enough
    Eche un rapaz ben espilido!He's a very smart young man!
    • 1473, A. López Ferreiro, editor, Galicia Histórica. Colección diplomática, Santiago: Tipografía Galaica, page 29:
      cando se ganou dos mouros a grande batalla da figeira en donde tamen perdin e me mataron o cabalo e eu sahin ben librado enpero ben ferido de hua saetada enno braço dereito que non a vin curada fasta pasados ben tres meses
      when the great Battle of the Figtree was won to the Moors, where I also lost —and they killed— my horse and I got out safe but badly injured of an arrow shot in the right arm, wound that I saw not cured until more than three months later
  3. (followed by de or a contraction of de) a lot (of)
    Bótalle ben de zucre, sen medo!Add a lot of sugar, don't be shy!
  4. plus, or more, upwards
    • c. 1295, R. Lorenzo, editor, La traducción gallega de la Crónica General y de la Crónica de Castilla, Ourense: I.E.O.P.F, page 174:
      Et durou a guerra dessa uez ontre elles bem dous ãnos, fazendosse todauia muyto mal os hũus aos outros, de guisa que, ante que sse aquella contenda fijnse, morrerõ y muytos
      And the war between them lasted that time for two years plus, making in every way a lot of harm the ones to the others, in wise that, before that conflict had ended, many died there

Related terms

References

  • ben” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
  • ben” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
  • ben” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Interlingua

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian bene, French bien, Spanish bien and Portuguese bem.

Pronunciation

Adverb

ben (comparative melio, superlative le melio)

  1. well

Derived terms

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin bene.

Adverb

ben

  1. well

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɛn/
  • Hyphenation: bèn

Adverb

ben (apocopated)

  1. Apocopic form of bene
    ben fattowell done

Derived terms

Japanese

Romanization

ben

  1. Rōmaji transcription of べん

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

From Portuguese vir and Spanish venir .

Verb

ben

  1. to come

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin bene.

Adverb

ben (comparative miec)

  1. well
  2. properly

Noun

ben m (plural bens)

  1. (especially in the plural) goods, property

Lombard

Etymology

Akin to Italian bene, from Latin.

Adverb

ben

  1. well

Mandarin

Romanization

ben

  1. Nonstandard spelling of bēn.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of běn.
  3. Nonstandard spelling of bèn.

Usage notes

  • Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish ben, from Proto-Celtic *benā, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Pronunciation

Noun

ben f (genitive singular mreih, plural mraane)

  1. woman

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
ben ven men
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Middle English

Verb

ben

  1. Alternative form of been

References

Northern Kurdish

Pronunciation

Noun

ben ?

  1. string, rope

Derived terms

Related terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

From Danish ben, from Old Norse bein, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

Noun

ben n (definite singular benet, indefinite plural ben, definite plural bena or benene)

  1. a leg
  2. a bone

Alternative forms

Derived terms

References

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan ben, from Latin bene.

Pronunciation

Adverb

ben

  1. well

Derived terms

Noun

ben m (plural bens)

  1. good, possession

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bainą.

Noun

bēn n

  1. leg
  2. bone

Inflection

Descendants

Further reading

  • bēn”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *bōniz. Cognate with Old Norse bón.

Pronunciation

Noun

bēn f (nominative plural bēne or bēna)

  1. prayer, praying
  2. request, entreaty
  3. boon
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Saint Basilius, Bishop"
      Bide nu æt gode þæt ic grecisc cunne. Þa cwæþ se biscop him to, þu bæde ofer mine mæðe ac uton swa þeah biddan þas bena æt gode.
      Pray now to God that I may know Greek. Pray now to God that I may know Greek. Then said the Bishop to him, 'Thou hast asked beyond my power, but let us, nevertheless, ask this boon of God.'
Declension
Descendants

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *banjō. Cognate with Old Norse ben.

Pronunciation

Noun

ben f

  1. Alternative form of benn

Old French

Adverb

ben

  1. (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of bien

Old Frisian

Ēn bēn (1).
Ēn bēn (2).

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *bain, from Proto-Germanic *bainą. Cognates include Old English bān, Old Saxon bēn and Old Dutch bēn.

Pronunciation

Noun

bēn n

  1. bone
  2. leg

Descendants

References

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old Irish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *benā, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Noun

ben f (genitive mná, nominative plural mná)

  1. woman
    Synonyms: banscál, , frac
  2. wife
    Synonym: séitig
    • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 22c10
      Is bés trá dosom aní-siu cosc inna mban i tossug et a tabairt fo chumacte a feir, armbat irlamu de ind ḟir fo chumacte Dǽi, co·mbí íarum coscitir ind ḟir et do·airbertar fo réir Dǽ.
      This, then, is a custom of his, to correct the wives at first and to bring them under the power of their husbands, so that the husbands may be the readier under God’s power, so that afterwards the husbands are corrected and bowed down in subjection to God.
Inflection
Feminine irregular
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ben mnaí mná
Vocative ben mnaí mná
Accusative bein, mnaí mnaí mná
Genitive mná ban ban
Dative mnaí mnáib mnáib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization
Derived terms
Descendants

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

·ben

  1. third-person singular present indicative conjunct of benaid

Verb

ben

  1. second-person singular imperative of benaid

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
ben ben
pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/
mben
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *banjō.

Noun

ben f (genitive benjar, plural benjar)

  1. mortal wound
  2. small bleeding wound

ben n

  1. wound

Declension

Related terms

  • bani m (bane)
  • benja (to wound mortally)

References

  • ben”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin bene.

Adjective

ben

  1. well

Descendants

References

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *bain.

Noun

bēn n

  1. bone

Descendants

Old Swedish

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Norse bein, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

Pronunciation

Noun

bēn n

  1. bone
  2. leg

Declension

Descendants

Scots

Etymology 1

From Old English binnan.

Noun

ben (plural bens)

  1. The inner room of a two-room hut or shack (as opposed to the but).

Adjective

ben (comparative benner, superlative benmaist)

  1. Inner, interior.

Preposition

ben

  1. Through, in, into, inside (a dwelling).
    A gaed ben the chaumer.
    Come awah ben, hen.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic beinn.

Noun

ben (plural bens)

  1. mountain, hill

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك (beñ).

Noun

ben m (Cyrillic spelling бен)

  1. (regional) birthmark, mole, naevus
    Synonym: madež

Further reading

  • ben” in Hrvatski jezični portal
  • ben” in Hrvatski jezični portal
  • ben” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

From English been.

Particle

ben

  1. Verbal marker for the past tense.

Usage notes

This marker can be combined with the markers sa or o for the future tense and e for the progressive aspect, in which case the order, if all are used, is that of ben sa/o e. Some examples:

  • mi ben waka: “I had walked”.
  • mi ben e waka: “I was walking”.
  • mi ben sa waka: “I would walk”.
  • mi ben sa e waka: “I would have been walking”.

Derived terms

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish bēn, from Old Norse bein, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

Pronunciation

Noun

ben n

  1. (anatomy) leg; a body part
  2. leg; part of trousers which covers the legs
  3. the part of a piece furniture on which it stands
  4. (anatomy) bone; any of the components of an endoskeleton
  5. (anatomy) bone; the material of the endoskeleton

Declension

Declension of ben 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ben benet ben benen
Genitive bens benets bens benens

Related terms

References

Turkish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɛn/, /bæn/
  • Hyphenation: ben

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish بن (ben, I), from Proto-Turkic *ben (I).

Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰢𐰤 (mn² /⁠men⁠/), 𐰋𐰤 (b²n² /⁠ben⁠/, I), Karakhanid مَنْ (men, I), Azerbaijani mən, Bashkir мин (min), Chuvash эпӗ (ep̬ĕ), Kazakh мен (men), Kyrgyz мен (men), Turkmen men.

Possibly related to Mongolian би (bi, I), Manchu ᠪᡳ (bi, I) (however, the Altaic family theory is now only supported by a minority of scholars).

Pronoun

ben

  1. I, me
Usage notes
  • It is one of the two words that has irregular dative case declension. (The other one is "sen").
  • It is one of the two words that has irregular genitive case declension. (The other one is "biz").
Declension
See also

Noun

ben (definite accusative beni, plural biz)

  1. (psychology) ego

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish بك (beñ, mole), from Proto-Turkic *beŋ (mole on the face).

Cognate with Bashkir миң (miñ), Kyrgyz мең (meŋ), Kazakh мең (meñ) Turkmen meň, Yakut мэҥ (meñ).

Also compare Mongolian мэнгэ (menge, mole, birthmark). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Noun

ben (definite accusative beni, plural benler)

  1. birthmark, mole
Declension
Inflection
Nominative ben
Definite accusative beni
Singular Plural
Nominative ben benler
Definite accusative beni benleri
Dative bene benlere
Locative bende benlerde
Ablative benden benlerden
Genitive benin benlerin
Derived terms
Related terms
See also

References

  1. ^ Starostin, Sergei; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg (2003), “*bẹ-”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill
  2. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “ben”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
  3. ^ Janhunen, Juha (2013), “Personal pronouns in Core Altaic”, in Martine Irma Robbeets, editor, Shared Grammaticalization: With Special Focus on the Transeurasian Languages, page 221; republished as Hubert Cuyckens, editor,, (please provide a date or year)
  4. ^ Starostin, Sergei; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg (2003), “*beŋ”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill

Venetian

Etymology

From Latin bene.

Adverb

ben

  1. well

Derived terms

Related terms

Vietnamese

Etymology

From French benne.

Pronunciation

Noun

(classifier xe) ben

  1. dump truck

See also

Derived terms

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin bene.

Pronunciation

Noun

ben (nominative plural bens)

  1. (sense of) well-being, welfare, being well, wellness

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Welsh

Pronunciation

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle Welsh benn, from Proto-Celtic *bend(n)ā (whence Latin benna), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (to bind).

Noun

ben f (plural benni)

  1. (transport, archaic) cart, wagon
Synonyms

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
ben fen men unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Etymology 2

Noun

ben

  1. Soft mutation of pen (head).

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
pen ben mhen phen
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.