English

Verb

bist

1. (Britain dialectal, Bristol, Northern England) Originally used to form the second person singular of be, but can denote other present tense forms, such as: are, am, is
   • 1875, Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Punch:

     Thee bist rayther too much a feelosofer, I be afeard, for me.

   • 1904, Henry Branch, Cotswold and vale:

     Lookee, thee bist purty, my love; lookee, thee bist purty: thee hast dove's eyes betwix thy locks; thy locks be like a flock o' ship fur thickedness.

   Where bist goin'.

   Where are you going?

   I bist goin' 'ome.

   I am going home

   How bist?

   How are you?

Related terms

• bin
• bisn't

Anagrams

• bits, tibs

German

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German bist. Cognate to Middle Dutch bes, best^[1], dialectal English bist, beest.

German bist has two sources:

• a form based on Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti ‎(“(you) are (sg.)”)
• an initial b- that was added to the word under influence of verb forms based on Proto-Germanic *beuną (as in Old English beon)^[2]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪst/

Verb

bist

1. Second-person singular present of sein.

   Du bist nicht mein Sohn.

   You are not my son.

References

1. ↑ A. van Loey, Schönfeld's Historische Grammatica van het Nederlands, 8. druk 1970, ISBN 90-03-21170-1; §147a
2. ↑ “bin” in: Friedrich Kluge, “Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache” , 22. Auflage, 1989, bearbeitet von Elmar Seebold, ISBN 3-11-006800-1

West Frisian

Verb

bist

1. are

   Do bist in baarch.‎ ― You are a pig.

Noun

bist

1. beast, animal

   De bisten bin fuort.‎ ― The beasts are gone.