Vocabulary     

What does be mean?

Definitions for be
bi; unstressed bi, bɪbe

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word be.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. beryllium, Be, glucinium, atomic number 4verb

    a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element

  2. beverb

    have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)

    "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"

  3. beverb

    be identical to; be someone or something

    "The president of the company is John Smith"; "This is my house"

  4. beverb

    occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere

    "Where is my umbrella?" "The toolshed is in the back"; "What is behind this behavior?"

  5. exist, beverb

    have an existence, be extant

    "Is there a God?"

  6. beverb

    happen, occur, take place

    "I lost my wallet; this was during the visit to my parents' house"; "There were two hundred people at his funeral"; "There was a lot of noise in the kitchen"

  7. equal, beverb

    be identical or equivalent to

    "One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!"

  8. constitute, represent, make up, comprise, beverb

    form or compose

    "This money is my only income"; "The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance"; "These constitute my entire belonging"; "The children made up the chorus"; "This sum represents my entire income for a year"; "These few men comprise his entire army"

  9. be, followverb

    work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function

    "He is a herpetologist"; "She is our resident philosopher"

  10. embody, be, personifyverb

    represent, as of a character on stage

    "Derek Jacobi was Hamlet"

  11. beverb

    spend or use time

    "I may be an hour"

  12. be, liveverb

    have life, be alive

    "Our great leader is no more"; "My grandfather lived until the end of war"

  13. beverb

    to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form

    "let her be"

  14. cost, beverb

    be priced at

    "These shoes cost $100"

Wiktionary

  1. beverb

    With there as dummy subject: to exist.

  2. beverb

    To exist; to have real existence.

    Rachel wepynge ffor her chyldren, and wolde nott be comforted because they were not.

  3. beverb

    To exist.

    Some men there are loue not a gaping Pigge: / Some that are mad, if they behold a Cat: / And others, when the bag-pipe sings i’th nose, / Cannot containe their Vrine for affection.

  4. beverb

    To occupy a place.

    The cup is on the table.

  5. beverb

    To occur, to take place.

    When will the meeting be?

  6. beverb

    Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar.

    The postman has been today, but my tickets have still not yet come.

  7. beverb

    Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.

    Knowledge is bliss.

  8. beverb

    Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.

    3 times 5 is fifteen.

  9. beverb

    Used to indicate that the subject is an instance of the predicate nominal.

    A dog is an animal. Dogs are animals.

  10. beverb

    Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal.

    François Mitterrand was president of France from 1981 to 1995.

  11. beverb

    Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by an adjective.

    The sky is blue.

  12. beverb

    Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.

    The sky is a deep blue today.

  13. beverb

    Used to form the passive voice.

    The dog was saved by the boy.

  14. beverb

    Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses.

    The woman is walking.

  15. beverb

    Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs; this was more common in archaic use, especially with verbs indicating motion. "He is finished", and "He is gone" are common, but "He is come" is archaic.

    They are not yet come back.

  16. beverb

    Used to express future action as well as what is due to, intended to, or should happen.

    They are to be married next month.

  17. beverb

    Used to link a subject to a measurement.

    This building is three hundred years old.

  18. beverb

    Used to state the age of a subject in years.

    I’m 20.

  19. beverb

    Used to indicate the time of day.

    It is almost eight.

  20. beverb

    Used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.

    It has been three years since my grandmother died.

  21. beverb

    Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.

    It is hot in Arizona, but it is not usually humid.

  22. beverb

    To exist or behave in a certain way.

    "When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."

  23. beverb

    To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.

    Women be shoppin’! You cannot stop a woman from shoppin’!

  24. Etymology: From been, from beon, from beunan, from bʰew-. Cognate with binne, ben, Low German bün ("am"), bin, buan. Irregular forms are inherited from the compound verb beon-wesan.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To BEverb

    This word is so remarkably irregular, that it is necessary to set down many of its terminations. Present. I am, thou art, he is, we are, &c. eom eart is aron , Sax. Preter. I was, thou wert, he was, we were, &c. wæs wære was wæron , Sax. The conjunctive mood. I be, thou beest, he be, we be, &c. beo bist beo beon , Sax.

    Seventy senators died
    By their proscriptions, Cicero being one. William Shakespeare, J. Cæsar.

    He hath to night been in unusual pleasure. Macbeth.

    Be what thou hop’st to be, or what thou art,
    Resign to death, it is not worth enjoying. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

    Be but about
    To say, she ’s a goodly lady, and
    The justice of your hearts will add thereto,
    ’Tis pity she ’s not honest, honourable. William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale.

    Let them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them. Isaiah, xli. 22.

    Therefore be sure,
    Thou, when the bridegroom with his feastful friends
    Passes to bliss at the mid hour of night,
    Hast gain’d thy entrance, virgin wise and pure. Par. Reg.

    Is it not easy to discern what such men would be at. Edward Stillingfleet.

    To say a man has a clear idea of quantity, without knowing how great it is, is to say, he has the clear idea of the number of the sands, who knows not how many they be. John Locke.

    The wine of life is drawn, and the meer lees
    Is left this vault to brag of. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    The times have been,
    That when the brains were out the man would die. Macbeth.

    Here cease, ye pow’rs, and let your vengeance end,
    Troy is no more, and can no more offend. Dryden.

    All th’ impossibilities, which poets
    Count to extravagance of loose description,
    Shall sooner be. Nicholas Rowe, Ambitious Stepmother.

    To be contents his natural desire;
    He asks no angel’s wing, nor seraph’s fire. Alexander Pope, Ess. on M.

    If all political power be derived only from Adam, and be to descend only to his successive heirs, by the ordinance of God, and divine institution, this is a right antecedent and paramount to all government. John Locke.

ChatGPT

  1. be

    The verb "be" can have several meanings, but generally, it refers to existing, occurring, or happening in a specified state, condition, or situation. It is often used to describe the essence, identity, or nature of a subject or to indicate a state of existence. Additionally, "be" can indicate the connection or linkage between two or more entities, actions, or attributes.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Beverb

    to exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have ex/stence

  2. Beverb

    to exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man

  3. Beverb

    to take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday

  4. Beverb

    to signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to

Wikidata

  1. be

    .be is the Internet country code top-level domain for Belgium. The domain became active in 1989 and was administrated by Pierre Verbaeten of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. In 2000, the control of the TLD was transferred to DNS Belgium. As of early 2012 there are 1,253,040 domains that are registered. It was announced in November 2005 that the initial registration of domains would be free until the beginning of 2006, though with some limits on the number any individual was allowed to register. This was remarkably popular, with some 17,000 registrations coming in on the first day of the promotion. Domain names are registered directly at second level. Some of Belgian's main academic institutions, such as the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Université Libre de Bruxelles, use third-level names under ac.be, but others have abandoned its use. Any .be registration has to be ordered via a registered agent.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Be

    bē, v.i. to live: to exist: to have a certain state or quality:—pr.p. bē′ing; pa.p. been.—n. Be′-all (Shak.), the whole being. [A.S. béon; Ger. bin; Gael. bi, to exist; W. byw, to live; Gr. phu-ein, L. fui, fio, Sans. bhu, to be, orig. meaning to grow.]

Editors Contribution

  1. be

    To exist.

    To be calm and loving is a gift that we must really respect and treasure.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 11, 2020  

  2. be

    To use time.

    My brother asked how long will we be, I communicated, we are very efficient and will see you soon.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 11, 2020  

Suggested Resources

  1. be

    Song lyrics by be -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by be on the Lyrics.com website.

  2. Be

    Be vs. Bee -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Be and Bee.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. BE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Be is ranked #22450 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Be surname appeared 1,146 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Be.

    60.8% or 697 total occurrences were Asian.
    22.6% or 260 total occurrences were White.
    8.6% or 99 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    4.8% or 56 total occurrences were Black.
    2.4% or 28 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.5% or 6 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'be' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #15

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'be' in Written Corpus Frequency: #28

  3. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'be' in Verbs Frequency: #1

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for be »

  1. EB

How to pronounce be?

How to say be in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of be in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of be in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Popularity rank by frequency of use

be#1#19#10000

References

Translations for be

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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