bi-

See also:Appendix:Variations of "bi"

Languages (31)

Azerbaijani•Catalan•Czech•Danish•Finnish•French•Galician•German•Gothic•Ido•Indonesian•Irish•Italian•Kongo•Latin•Malay•Middle English•Navajo•Northern Kurdish•Norwegian Bokmål•Norwegian Nynorsk•Ojibwe•Old English•Old Saxon•Polish•Portuguese•Spanish•Swedish•Tooro•Turkish

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English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/baɪ-/,(rare)/bɪ-/
Audio(US): (file)

Etymology 1

PIE word
*dwóh₁

Borrowed fromLatinbi-,fromProto-Italic*dwi-,fromProto-Indo-European*dwi-.Doubletoftwi-anddi-.

Alternative forms

bin-(before some vowel-initial roots)
bis-

Prefix

Latinnumber prefix
Previous:	uni-
Next:	tri-

bi-

Twoin number.
biarticularis affecting, or connecting two joints;biaxialis along two axes;bicolouredis of two colours
Having or possessing two of the root word's quality.
biangularis having two angles or corners,biantheriferousis having two anthers,bicardialis having two separate hearts,bikontis a eukaryotic cell with two flagella; thought to be the ancestor of all plants
Both:referring to two as a set.
biacetabularis relating to both acetabula,biallelicis of or pertaining to both alleles of a gene,bicavalis relating to both veins of the vena cava
Being different in two ways with respect to the root.
biadjointis adjoint in two different ways,biaffineis affine in two different ways,biclonalis having cell markers from two different cell lines
Forked,dividedby two,halved;(chemistry,proscribed)half
bifurcateis to divide or fork into two channels or branches,bicapitateis to divide something equally between two people or organisations,bicarinateis dividing into two points at the end
Double,twofold.
bialgebroidis a double algebroid,bifariousis twofold, double,biarticulatedis doubly articulated
(LGBTQ)Bisexual,relating to bisexuality.
bicentricis having a bisexual bias or basis,biphobiais antipathy towards bisexuals,biromanticis romantically attracted to both males and females
(anatomy)Bilateral,on both sides of the body.
biconcaveis having both sides concave,biballismis ballism that affects both sides of the body
Twice.
biannualis occurring twice a year,biannualis something occurring twice each year,biconjugateis paired twice
Every two; a rate of once every two.
biannualis occurring once every two years; biennial,bicentennialis occurring every two hundred (200) years
Apairof; composed of two.
bibrowis a pair of eyebrows which do not meet in the middle, as opposed to a unibrow,bicomplexis composed of a pair of complex numbers having certain defined properties

Usage notes

In an old, common method used to indicate the presence of an acidic hydrogen, sodium hydrogen sulfate is called "sodiumbisulfate"and sodium hydrogen carbonate is called" sodiumbicarbonate".This method is not recommended by IUPAC and does not denote a “doubling up” of a specific group, which is reserved for the Greek prefixdi-,as incarbondioxide(“CO₂”).

The prefixbiin the older system comes from the observation that there is two times as muchcarbonate(CO₃) insodium bicarbonate(Na HCO₃) and other bicarbonates as insodium carbonate(Na₂CO₃) and other carbonates.

As a prefix for periods,bi-is ambiguously used to mean either “once every two periods” or “twice every period”; this is particularly acute forbiweekly,bimonthly,andbiannual.To avoid ambiguity,semi-ortwicecan be used to unambiguously mean “every half period” (thus twice every period) or “twice every period”, but there is no general way to refer unambiguously to “once every two periods”. In some cases a separate word is unambiguous, as infortnightly(“every two weeks”),orbiennial(“every two years”),but there is no word that unambiguously refers to “every two months”. Due to the ambiguity, some prefer to use explicit phrases, like “every two months” or “twice a month”.

Synonyms

di-
duo-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with bi-

bicartesian closed category

terms derived from two

terms derived from having two

terms derived from both

terms derived from different

terms derived from forked

terms derived from double

terms derived from bisexual

terms derived from bilateral

terms derived from twice

terms derived from every two

terms derived from pair

Translations

two-

Bengali:দুই(bn)(dui)
Catalan:bi-(ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin:Song/Song(zh)(shuāng)
Czech:bi-
Dutch:bi-(nl),twee-,dubbel-
French:bi-(fr)
Galician:bi-(gl)
Georgian:ბი-(bi-),ორ-(or-)
German:bi-(de),zwei-(de)
Hebrew:דו־,noun (m. sg.) +בן שתי+ noun (f. pl.)(e.g. בניין בן שתי קומות, "a two-story building"),noun (m. sg.) +בן שתי+ noun (m. pl.)(e.g. ספר בן שני חלקים, "a two-part book"),noun (f. sg.) +בת שתי+ noun (f. pl.)(e.g. קואליציה בת שתי מפלגות, "a two-party coalition"),noun (f. sg.) +בת שני+ noun (m. pl.)(e.g. מערכת בת שני גופים, "a two-body system")
Hungarian:bi-(hu)
Ido:bi-
Indonesian:dwi-,bi-
Irish:dé-
Italian:bi-(it)
Japanese:Song(ja)(そう, sō)
Malay:dwi-(ms),bi-(ms)
Manx:daa-
Polish:bi-(pl),dwu-(pl)
Portuguese:bi-(pt)
Punjabi:ਦੁ-(du-)
Russian:двух-(dvux-),дву-(dvu-),би-(ru)(bi-)
Spanish:bi-(es),bis-,biz-
Swedish:bi-(sv)
Tibetan:གཉིས་ལྡན(gnyis ldan,literally“having two”),ཟུང་ལྡན(zung ldan,literally“having a pair”),གཉིས་མ(gnyis ma,literally“both, double”),གཉིས་རེ(gnyis re,literally“every two”),ལྡབ་གཉིས(ldab gnyis,literally“twice”),ཉིས་ལྡབ(nyis ldab,literally“twice”)
Ukrainian:бі-(bi-),дво-(dvo-),двох-(dvox-)

Etymology 2

FromAncient Greekβίος(bíos,“life”).

Prefix

bi-

(before a vowel)Alternative form ofbio-
biontis a living organism

Derived terms

terms derived from bio

biont

Anagrams

IB,ib.

Azerbaijani

Etymology

FromPersian(bi).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):[bi]

Prefix

bi-

(rarelyproductive)-less,un-,in-.
Synonym:-siz

Derived terms

Azerbaijani terms prefixed with bi-

Catalan

Etymology

FromLatinbis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):(Central,Balearic,Valencia)[bi]

Prefix

bi-

bi-

Derived terms

Catalan terms prefixed with bi-

Czech

Etymology

BorrowedfromLatinbis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):[bɪ ]

Prefix

bi-

bi-

Related terms

Danish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):[ˈb̥i]

Etymology 1

FromGermanbei-(“by-”).

Prefix

bi-

by-,side-
Synonym:side-

Etymology 2

FromLatinbis(“twice”).

Prefix

bi-

bi-
Synonyms:di-,tve-,dobbelt-

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism(seeEnglishbi-), ultimately fromLatinbis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/ˈbi-/,[ˈbi-]

Prefix

bi-

bi-(double, twin)
Synonyms:seekaksois-

Derived terms

CategoryFinnish terms prefixed with bi-not found

French

Etymology

FromLatinbis(“twice”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/bi/
Audio: (file)

Prefix

bi-

bi-

Derived terms

French terms prefixed with bi-

Galician

Etymology

FromLatinbis.

Prefix

bi-

bi-
Synonyms:bi-,duo-

Derived terms

From

Galician terms prefixed with bi-

.

German

Etymology

FromLatinbis(“twice”).

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)

Prefix

bi-

bi-

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with bi-

Gothic

Romanization

bi-

Romanization of𐌱𐌹-

Ido

Prefix

bi-

bi-

Derived terms

Ido terms prefixed with bi-

Indonesian

Etymology

FromDutchbi-,fromLatinbi-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):[bi]
Hyphenation:bi

Prefix

bi-

bi-:two,pair,both.

Derived terms

Indonesian terms prefixed with bi-

bilateral

Irish

Prefix

bi-

Alternative form ofbith-,used before a slender T.

Mutation

Mutated formsofbi-
radical	lenition	eclipsis
bi-	bhi-	mbi-

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

Italian

Etymology

FromLatinbis(“twice”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/bi/
Hyphenation:bi-

Prefix

bi-

bi-
di-

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with bi-

Kongo

Etymology

FromProto-Bantu*bì-.

Prefix

bi-(singularki-)

class 8 prefix
class subject concord

Latin

Etymology

FromProto-Italic*dwi-,fromProto-Indo-European*dwi-(“two-; twice-”),prefix form corresponding to the numeral*dwóh₁(“two”);the origin in PIE of the *i here is uncertain.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/bi/,[bɪ]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/bi/,[biː]

Prefix

bi-

havingtwoparts
occurringtwice

Derived terms

References

^De Vaan, Michiel(2008) “bi-”, inEtymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages(Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill,→ISBN,page71

Malay

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/bi-/
Hyphenation:bi-

Etymology 1

BorrowedfromPersian.^[1]

Prefix

bi-(Jawi spellingبی-)

-less;prefix expressing the lack of the root word.
‎bi-+ ‎adab(“manners”)→ ‎biadab(“impolite”)

Usage notes

While there have been efforts to popularize the use of this prefix in scientific and technological coinages, currently, its range of use is very limited, and so, it is found only in a small number of words.

Etymology 2

FromEnglishbi-.^[1]

Prefix

bi-(Jawi spellingبی-)

bi-
bienial―biennial

Usage notes

This prefix is unproductive and is only found in loanwords borrowed from English which contain the prefix.

Derived terms

Malay terms prefixed with bi-

biadab

References

↑^1.0^1.1Nik S. Farid M. Hashim H. & Abdul H. (2004).Tatabahasa dewan : edisi baharu.Dewama Sdn. Bhd.

Middle English

Etymology 1

InheritedfromOld Englishbe-,fromProto-West Germanic*bi-,fromProto-Germanic*bi-,from*bi-;compareby-.

The pronunciation/bi-/(instead of expected/bə-/) is probably due to the influence of the prepositionby.

Alternative forms

be-,by-
b-(in certain words)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/bi-/

Prefix

bi-

A prefix forming transitive verbs from any content word, often denoting completion or thoroughness.
A prefix forming prepositions, often denoting adjacency, position, or relation.

Derived terms

Descendants

English:be-
Scots:be-

References

“bi-,pref.(2).”,inMED Online,Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
“bi-,pref.(3).”,inMED Online,Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.

Etymology 2

Prefix

bi-

Alternative form ofby-

Navajo

Etymology 1

Prefix

bi-

his,her,its,their
‎amá(“one's mother”)+ ‎bi-→ ‎bimá(“his/her/its/their mother”)

Usage notes

This prefix often corresponds to an English possessive’sappended to the preceding word. For example,Diné bizaadmeans literally “the People their-language”, equivalent to “the People’s language” (i.e., Navajo language).

Related terms

Etymology 2

Prefix

bi-

Marks a third-person singular indirect object.

Northern Kurdish

Prefix

bi-

forms theaffirmative subjunctive moodofverbs.

Norwegian Bokmål

Prefix

bi-

by-,by,side
bi-

References

“bi-”inThe Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Prefix

bi-

by-,by,side
bi-

References

“bi-”inThe Nynorsk Dictionary.

Ojibwe

Preverb

bi-

this way, here, hither (toward the speaker)
Bi-anokiin.
Comeand work.

Related terms

biid-

References

The Ojibwe People's Dictionaryhttps://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/bi-pv-dir

Old English

Alternative forms

biġ-,be-

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/ˈbiː/

Etymology 1

Frombī(“by, near, around”).

Prefix

bī-

near,around(compare Latinpara-)
‎bi-+ ‎nama→ ‎bīnama(“pronoun”)

‎bi-+ ‎word→ ‎bīword(“proverb, byword”)

Usage notes

Occurred primarily in nouns.

Derived terms

Old English terms prefixed with bi-

bīgenga(“inhabitant; observer; benefactor”)
bīleofa(“support, sustenance, nourishment, capital”)
bīswæc(“treachery”)

Descendants

Middle English:by-,bi-
- English:by-,be-
- Scots:by-,be-

Etymology 2

Prefix

bi-

Alternative form ofbe-

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

An unstressed form ofbī,fromProto-West Germanic*bī-.

Prefix

bi-

A productive prefix usually used to form verbs and adjectives, especially verbs with the sense “around, throughout” or makes transitive verbs from intransitive verbs, adjectives and nouns.
‎bi-+ ‎brekan→ ‎bibrekan(“to break”)

‎bi-+ ‎brengian→ ‎bibrengian(“to accomplish”)

‎bi-+ ‎dēlian→ ‎bidēlian(“to deprive”)

‎bi-+ ‎delvan→ ‎bidelvan(“to bury”)

‎bi-+ ‎dempian→ ‎bidempian(“to suffocate”)

‎bi-+ ‎dernian→ ‎bidernian(“to conceal, to hide”)

‎bi-+ ‎dōdian→ ‎bidōdian(“to kill”)

‎bi-+ ‎driogan→ ‎bidriogan(“to deceive”)

‎bi-+ ‎drōragon→ ‎bidrōragon(“to bleed to death”)

‎bi-+ ‎dumbilian→ ‎bidumbilian(“to make a fool”)

‎bi-+ ‎*dwellian→ ‎bidwellian(“to hinder”)

‎bi-+ ‎fāhan→ ‎bifāhan(“to embrace, seize”)

‎bi-+ ‎fallan→ ‎bifallan(“to befall”)

‎bi-+ ‎felhan→ ‎bifelhan(“to recommend, give over, confide”)

‎bi-+ ‎fellian→ ‎bifellian(“to throw down”)

‎bi-+ ‎findan→ ‎bifindan(“to notice, find out”)

‎bi-+ ‎gangan→ ‎bigān, bigangan(“to celebrate”)

‎bi-+ ‎gehan→ ‎bigehan(“to dare, confess”)

Derived terms

Descendants

be-

Etymology 2

Frombī(“by, near, around”).

Prefix

bī-

prefix meaningnear,around(compareLatinpara-), occurring primarily in nouns
‎bi-+ ‎word→ ‎bīword(“proverb, byword”)

Derived terms

bīgengio(“inhabitant”)

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowingfromLatinbi-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/bi/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes:-i
Syllabification:[please specify syllabification manually]

Prefix

bi-

bi-,two
Synonyms:dwu-,di-,dy-

‎bi-+ ‎-gamia→ ‎bigamia

Derived terms

Portuguese

Etymology

BorrowedfromLatinbis.

Prefix

bi-

bi-(two-)

Derived terms

Spanish

Alternative forms

bis-,biz-

Etymology

FromLatinbis(“twice”).

Prefix

bi-

bi-
Synonyms:di-,duo-

Derived terms

Swedish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/bi/,[ˈb̥i]

Prefix

bi-

by-,next to,near,by the side,aside;same asEnglishby-andGermanbei-;see also the rare prepositionbi
bi-,two,dual;fromLatinbis(“twice”)

Derived terms

References

Tooro

Alternative forms

(before vowels)by-

Etymology

FromProto-Bantu*bí-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key):/βi-/

Prefix

bi-

class 8pronominal concord
‎bi-+ ‎-nu(“this, these”)→ ‎binu(“these (class 8)”)
they;class 8subject concord
‎bi-+ ‎-kora(“to do”)→ ‎bikora(“they (class 8) do”)
positive imperative form of-bi-(“them;class 8object concord”)
‎bi-+ ‎-ha(“to give”)→ ‎biha(“give them (class 8)”)

References

Kaji, Shigeki (2007)A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[1],Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA),→ISBN,page414

Turkish

Etymology

BorrowedfromPersian(bi,prefix).

Prefix

bi-

(obsolete,unproductive)-less,un-,in-.
Synonym:-siz

Derived terms

Turkish terms prefixed with bi-

biçare

bihaber

bitap

[1] De Vaan, Michiel(2008) “bi-”, inEtymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages(Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill,→ISBN,page71

[n-2] 1.0^1.1Nik S. Farid M. Hashim H. & Abdul H. (2004).Tatabahasa dewan : edisi baharu.Dewama Sdn. Bhd.

[1]

[1]

	singular	dual	plural
1st person	shi-	nihi-	danihi-
2nd person	ni-	nihi-	danihi-
3rd person	bi-
4th person (3o)	yi-
4th person (3a)	ha-,hw-
Indefinite person (3i)	a-

Class	Person	Independent	Possessive	Subject concord	Object concord	Combined forms
Class	Person	Independent	Possessive	Subject concord	Object concord	na	ni
Class 1	First	nyowe,nye	-ange	n-	-n-	nanyowe,nanye	ninyowe,ninye
	Second	iwe	-awe	o-	-ku-	naiwe	niiwe
	Third	uwe	-e	a-	-mu-	nawe	nuwe
Class 2	First	itwe	-aitu	tu-	-tu-	naitwe	niitwe
	Second	inywe	-anyu	mu-	-ba-	nainywe	niinywe
	Third	abo	-abo	ba-	-ba-	nabo	nubo
Class 3		gwo	-agwo	gu-	-gu-	nagwo	nugwo
Class 4		yo	-ayo	e-	-gi-	nayo	niyo
Class 5		lyo	-alyo	li-	-li-	nalyo	niryo
Class 6		go	-ago	ga-	-ga-	nago	nugo
Class 7		kyo	-akyo	ki-	-ki-	nakyo	nikyo
Class 8		byo	-abyo	bi-	-bi-	nabyo	nibyo
Class 9		yo	-ayo	e-	-gi-	nayo	niyo
Class 10		zo	-azo	zi-	-zi-	nazo	nizo
Class 11		rwo	-arwo	ru-	-ru-	narwo	nurwo
Class 12		ko	-ako	ka-	-ka-	nako	nuko
Class 13		two	-atwo	tu-	-tu-	natwo	nutwo
Class 14		bwo	-abwo	bu-	-bu-	nabwo	nubwo
Class 15		kwo	-akwo	ku-	-ku-	nakwo	nukwo
Class 16		ho	-aho	ha-	-ha-	naho	nuho
Class 17		(kwo)	N/A	ha- (...-yo)	-ha-	N/A	nukwo
Class 18		(mwo)	-amwo	ha- (...-mu)	-ha-	N/A	numwo
Reflexive		-enyini,-onyini	—		-e-	—

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Prefix

Usage notes

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Prefix

Derived terms

Anagrams

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Derived terms

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Derived terms

Further reading

Czech

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Related terms

Further reading

Danish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Prefix

Etymology 2

Prefix

See also

Finnish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Derived terms

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Derived terms

Galician

Etymology

Prefix

Derived terms

Further reading

German

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Derived terms

Gothic

Romanization

Ido

Prefix

Derived terms

Indonesian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Derived terms

Further reading

Irish

Prefix

Mutation

Further reading

Italian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Prefix

Derived terms

Kongo

Etymology

Prefix