Wiktionary

bean

See also: Bean, and bean-

English

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Lima beans
 
Coffee beans
 
Vanilla beans

Etymology

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From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), West Frisian bean (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”), Swedish böna (“bean”), Danish bønne (“bean”), Norwegian bønne (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Latin faba (“bean”), Russian боб (bob, “bean”), Serbo-Croatian бо̏б/bȍb. Doublet of fava.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bean (plural beans)

  2. Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
    • 2004, T. N. Shivenanda, B. R. V. Iyengar, Phosphorus Management in French Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.), Ramdane Dris, S. Mohan Jain (editors), Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops, Volume 2: Plant Mineral Nutrition and Pesticide Management, page 79,
      Beans are a large group of leguminous vegetables that serve as a main source of proteins in human diet. This group comprises several species and some of them are Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis); Broad bean (Vicia faba); Cluster bean (Cyamposis tetragonoloba); French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris); […] .
  4. The large edible seed of such a plant (for example, a broad bean, navy bean, or garbanzo bean).
  6. The edible seedpod of such a plant.
    Green beans, also called French beans, can be pickled and made into pickled beans.
  8. (by extension) The bean-like seed of certain other plants, such as a vanilla bean or (especially) a coffee bean.
  10. (by extension) An object resembling a pea or bean in shape, often made from plastic or styrofoam and used in large numbers as packing material or as stuffing for beanbags and similar items.
  12. (slang) The head or brain.
    Synonym: noggin
    • 1959, Maxwell Droke, You and the World to Come, page 173:
      Now, there was a perfectly sound forecast for you. Certainly a case of using the old bean. The surmise was perfectly logical.
    • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI and XV:
      I saw her quiver and kept a wary eye on the ginger ale bottle. But even if she had raised it and brought it down on [my] bean, I couldn't have been more stunned than I was by the words that left her lips.
      [...]
      Well, as I say, it was from his fertile bean that the idea sprang.
  14. (slang) The human clitoris.
    • 2010, Cynthia W. Gentry, Dana Fredst, What Women Really Want in Bed: The Surprising Secrets Women Wish Men Knew about Sex, Quiver, published 2010, →ISBN, page 64:
      For one, don't stage a full-frontal assault on her bean.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:bean.
  16. (slang, often endearing) A person; especially, a baby.
    • 2000 April 9, Richard G Cheek, “Apologies, DimWit Dana”, in talk.politics.guns (Usenet):
      Sparky is a good bean, even if he is a carpet-bagging bean at that.
    • 2002 March 21, Yena, "oh my bloody god boys!", microsoft.public.xbox, Usenet:
      i dont want boid (whoever said that) he is mean. boid is a mean bean.
    • 2007, Alex Bradley, Hot Lunch, Penguin, →ISBN:
      "Good, because we like you. You're okay. You're a good bean." "I never thought I'd be friends with a cheerleader," I said.
  18. (British, slang, archaic) A guinea coin.
  20. (British, slang, chiefly in the negative) Money.
    I haven't got a bean.
  22. (Java programming language) Clipping of JavaBean.
    • 2017, Iuliana Cosmina, Rob Harrop, Chris Schaefer, Clarence Ho, Pro Spring 5, 5th edition, Apress, →ISBN, page 131:
      The singerOne bean has values for both the name and age properties, so it passes through the init() method with absolutely no changes.
  23. (slang) Any form of tablet, especially benzedrine (benny).
    • 2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi‎[2], Hachette, →ISBN:
      Once the bean kicked in I started wilding.
  24. (colloquial, chiefly in the plural) A toe bean.

Usage notes

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Beans and peas are sometimes misidentified (confused with one another); they are both legumes (belonging to the family Fabaceae) and seeds. The word bean has referred to a wide class of seeds since pre-Columbian times (when only the Eurasian types were known to Germanic language speakers), but, after Columbian contact, it was extended to other seeds belonging to the New World genus Phaseolus (runner beans, lima beans, and so on; see bean § Terminology for details). The fruits or seeds of some other non-Fabaceae plants (e.g., coffee beans, cocoa beans, vanilla beans, castor beans) are also referred to as beans, because of their resemblance to beans as named in the stricter sense.

Peas are a type of bean with smaller, round seeds in the pod, in contrast to the oval or kidney-shaped seeds usually referred to as beans. Because both terms are applied to a wide range of different legumes, the distinction is not always clear: garbanzo bean is a synonym of chickpea.

Hyponyms

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software: JavaBeans

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Fiji Hindi: biin

Translations

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Verb

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bean (third-person singular simple present beans, present participle beaning, simple past and past participle beaned)

  1. (chiefly baseball) To hit deliberately with a projectile, especially in the head.
    The pitcher beaned the batter, rather than letting him hit another home run.
    • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IX and XI:
      Though I shall have to exercise an iron self-restraint to keep me from beaning that pie-faced little hornswoggler Mrs Bertram Wooster, nee Wickham, with the shaker.
      [...]
      dudgeon might easily lead her to reach for the ginger ale bottle and bean me with it.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Basque

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Noun

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bean

  1. inessive singular of be

Irish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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PIE word
*gʷḗn

From Old Irish ben,[4] from Proto-Celtic *benā, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Noun

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bean f (genitive singular mná, nominative plural mná)

  1. woman
  2. wife
Declension
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Declension of bean

Irregular

Bare forms

Case Singular Plural
Nominative bean mná
Vocative a bhean a mhná
Genitive mná ban
Dative bean
mnaoi (archaic or dialectal) 		mná
mnáibh (archaic)

Forms with the definite article

Case Singular Plural
Nominative an bhean na mná
Genitive na mná na mban
Dative leis an mbean; don bhean
leis an mnaoi; don mhnaoi (archaic or dialectal) 		leis na mná
leis na mnáibh (archaic)
Derived terms
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Pronoun

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bean

  1. one (of women, girls)
    Tá triúr iníonacha agam; tá bean acu trasinscneach.
    I have three daughters; one of them is transgender.

Further reading

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Etymology 2

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From a conflation of Old Irish benaid (“beat, strike”) and bongaid (“break, cut”).[5][6]

Verb

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bean (present analytic beanann, future analytic beanfaidh, verbal noun beant, past participle beanta)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) Alternative form of bain
Inflection
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conjugation of bean (first conjugation – A)
singular plural relative autonomous
first second third first second third
indicative present beanaim beanann tú;
beanair† 		beanann sé, sí beanaimid beanann sibh beanann siad;
beanaid† 		a bheanann; a bheanas /
a mbeanann* 		beantar
past bhean mé; bheanas bhean tú; bheanais bhean sé, sí bheanamar; bhean muid bhean sibh; bheanabhair bhean siad; bheanadar a bhean /
ar bhean* 		beanadh
past habitual bheanainn / mbeanainn‡‡ bheantá / mbeantᇇ bheanadh sé, sí / mbeanadh sé, s퇇 bheanaimis; bheanadh muid / mbeanaimis‡‡; mbeanadh muid‡‡ bheanadh sibh / mbeanadh sibh‡‡ bheanaidís; bheanadh siad / mbeanaidís‡‡; mbeanadh siad‡‡ a bheanadh /
a mbeanadh* 		bheantaí / mbeanta퇇
future beanfaidh mé;
beanfad 		beanfaidh tú;
beanfair† 		beanfaidh sé, sí beanfaimid;
beanfaidh muid 		beanfaidh sibh beanfaidh siad;
beanfaid† 		a bheanfaidh; a bheanfas /
a mbeanfaidh* 		beanfar
conditional bheanfainn / mbeanfainn‡‡ bheanfá / mbeanfᇇ bheanfadh sé, sí / mbeanfadh sé, s퇇 bheanfaimis; bheanfadh muid / mbeanfaimis‡‡; mbeanfadh muid‡‡ bheanfadh sibh / mbeanfadh sibh‡‡ bheanfaidís; bheanfadh siad / mbeanfaidís‡‡; mbeanfadh siad‡‡ a bheanfadh /
a mbeanfadh* 		bheanfaí / mbeanfa퇇
subjunctive present go mbeana mé;
go mbeanad† 		go mbeana tú;
go mbeanair† 		go mbeana sé, sí go mbeanaimid;
go mbeana muid 		go mbeana sibh go mbeana siad;
go mbeanaid† 		— go mbeantar
past dá mbeanainn dá mbeantá dá mbeanadh sé, sí dá mbeanaimis;
dá mbeanadh muid 		dá mbeanadh sibh dá mbeanaidís;
dá mbeanadh siad 		— dá mbeantaí
imperative beanaim bean beanadh sé, sí beanaimis beanaigí;
beanaidh† 		beanaidís — beantar
verbal noun beant
past participle beanta

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Mutation

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Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
bean bhean mbean
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

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  1. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 107, page 58
  2. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 38
  3. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 244, page 88
  4. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ben”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  5. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “benaid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  6. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “boingid”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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bean (third-person singular simple present is, present participle beinge, first-/third-person singular past indicative was, past participle beon)

  1. Alternative form of been (“to be”)

Etymology 2

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Noun

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bean (plural beanen)

  1. Alternative form of bene (“bean”)

Old English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *baunu.

Cognates

Cognate with Old Frisian bāne, bām (West Frisian bean), Old Saxon bōna (Low German Bohn), Dutch boon, Old High German bōna (German Bohne), Old Norse baun (Danish bønne, Swedish böna).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bēan f (nominative plural bēana or bēane)

  1. bean (especially the broad bean)

Declension

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Declension of bēan (strong ō-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative bēan bēana, bēane
accusative bēane bēana, bēane
genitive bēane bēana
dative bēane bēanum

Descendants

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Polish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French béjaune.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bean m animal

  1. (archaic) greenhorn
    Synonym: żółtodziób
  2. (archaic) rude person[1]
    Synonyms: cham, prostak

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “bean”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna: “‘fryc’, cham’, z gwary żakowskiej, łac. beanus z franc. béjaune, ‘żółtodziób’”

Further reading

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  • bean in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scottish Gaelic

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Etymology

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From Middle Irish ben,[1] from Old Irish ben. Cognates include Irish bean and Manx ben.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bean f

  1. wife
  2. (archaic) woman
    Synonym: boireannach

Declension

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Declension of bean (irregular feminine noun)
Indefinite
Singular Plural
Nominative bean mnathan; mnai (archaic)
Genitive mnà; mnatha;
mnathadh (archaic, dialectal) 		ban
Dative bean; mnaoi (archaic) mnathan; mnathaibh (archaic)
Definite
Singular Plural
Nominative (a') bhean (na) mnathan; (na) mnai (archaic)
Genitive (na) mnà; (na) mnatha;
(na) mnathadh (archaic, dialectal) 		(nam) ban
Dative (a') bhean; (a') mhnaoi (archaic) (na) mnathan; (na) mnathaibh (archaic)
Vocative (a) bhean (a) mhnathan

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Mutation of bean
radical lenition
bean bhean

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

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  1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ben”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
  2. ^ Oftedal, M. (1956) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
  3. ^ John MacPherson (1945) The Gaelic dialect of North Uist (Thesis)‎[1], Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh

Further reading

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  • Edward Dwelly (1911) “bean”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan‎[3], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
  • Colin Mark (2003) “bean”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 68

Swedish

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Noun

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bean

  1. definite singular of bea

West Frisian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old Frisian bāne, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu.

Cognate with Dutch boon, English bean, German Bohne.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bean c (plural beanen, diminutive beantsje)

  1. bean

Further reading

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