Central Franconian

Noun

Bei f ‎(plural Beie, diminutive Beiche)

1. (most dialects) bee (insect)

Japanese

Romanization

Bei

1. rōmaji reading of べい

Luxembourgish

eng Bei

Etymology

From Old High German bīa, from Proto-Germanic *bijō. Cognate with Dutch bij, West Frisian bij, English bee, Icelandic bý.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑɪ̯/
• Rhymes: -ɑɪ
• Homophone: bei

Noun

Bei f ‎(plural Beien)

1. bee

Bauro

Noun

bei

1. water

References

• Sidney Herbert Ray, A Comparative Study of the Melanesian Island Languages (2014), page 481: Bauro bei "water"

Central Franconian

Etymology

From Old High German bī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bei̯/

Preposition

bei ‎(+ dative or accusative)

1. (most dialects) at; with; by; near; (close) to

   Jank bei der Wage on waat do op mich!

   Go to the car and wait there for me!

Derived terms

• derbei
• beim, bem (contraction with the masculine and neuter dative of the definite article)

Faroese

Etymology

From English bye.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paiːj/
• Rhymes: -aiːj

Interjection

bei

1. bye, goodbye

German

Etymology

From Middle High German bī, from Old High German bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi. More at by.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baɪ̯/
• Rhymes: -aɪ̯

Preposition

bei ‎(+ dative)

1. (locative) by; near

   die Bank bei der Kirche – “the bench by the church”

   die Bäckerei beim Bahnhof – “the bakery near the train station”

2. (with a person, family, shop) at

   Ich schlafe bei Peter. — “I’m sleeping at Peter’s [place].”

   Ich bin beim Metzger. — “I'm at the butcher’s.”

3. (with an organization or company) for; at; in

   bei der Firma arbeiten — “to work for the firm”

   das Arbeitsklima bei Schmidt & Co. — “the working atmosphere at Schmidt & Co.”

4. (formal, reflexive) with; on

   Er hat es nicht bei sich. — “He doesn’t have it on him.”

   → for which usually: Er hat es nicht dabei.

5. (with an event considered certain) upon, at the time of

   bei Abfahrt des Zuges — “upon departure of the train”

6. (with an event considered theoretical) in case of, in the event of

   bei Hochwasser — “in case of flooding”

7. (with a continuing activity or condition) during; while; during the existence of

   bei der Arbeit — “during work”

   beim Lesen des Textes — “while reading the text”

   bei Schnee — “when there is snow”

8. (with an item that implies an activity) over; during

   bei einem Glas Wein — “over a glass of wine” (that is, while drinking it)

   bei einem Film — “during a film” (that is, while watching it)

9. (dated, in a postal address) care of

   Frau Tina Müller bei Firma Schmidt & Co. — “Mrs Tina Müller, care of Schmidt & Co.”

10. (now dialectal, nonstandard, western and northern Germany, with accusative) with, to, towards

    Leg dat bei die andern Sachen! — Put that with the other things!

    Komm ma bei mich! — Come to me!

Usage notes

• When bei is followed by the definite article dem ‎(“the”), the two words contract to beim. However, when dem is a demonstrative pronoun, no contraction occurs. Compare:

Der Baum steht zu nah beim Haus. – “The tree is too close to the house.”

Der Baum steht zu nah bei dem Haus da hinten. – “The tree is too close to that house over there.”

• (with, to, towards): In many dialects, and historically in literary style, bei could express movement, requiring then the accusative case. This is in conflict with modern standard rules, for which reason this usage is becoming rare. Note, however, that the adverb dabei is still fairly common in regional speech: Kommt noch was dabei? – “Do you want anything else with that?” (for which dazu is proper standard). — Modern standard German features some relicts of the earlier usage in compounds such as herbei, beiseite, beilegen, beitreten, etc. Compare also the idiom “Butter bei die Fische”. Compare further Dutch bij for which all such constructions are perfect standard.

Derived terms

• beim

Italian

Adjective

bei

1. Masculine plural of bello before a consonant

Verb

bei

1. second-person singular present indicative of beare
2. first-person singular present subjunctive of beare
3. second-person singular present subjunctive of beare
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of beare
5. third-person singular imperative of beare

Japanese

Romanization

bei

1. rōmaji reading of べい

Lojban

Cmavo

bei

1. separates "internal" sumti which are subordinated through "be" to a given (possibly "sumti-fied") selbri

   ti zbasu lo takybli lo kliti sepi'o lo glanejni

   This makes bricks out of clay using heat.

   ti zbasu be lo takybli bei lo kliti bei sepi'o lo glanejni

   This makes bricks out of clay using heat.

Rafsi

bei

1. rafsi of bevri.

Luxembourgish

Alternative forms

• bäi

Etymology

From Old High German bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑɪ/

  Rhymes: -ɑɪ

  Homophone: Bei

Preposition

bei

1. by, next to, near

   De Schlëssel läit bei der Dier.‎

   The key is by the door.

2. at, to (the home or workplace of someone)

   Gëschter den Nomëtteg sinn ech bei den Dokter gaangen.‎

   Yesterday afternoon I went to the doctor's.

3. with

   Wunns du nach bei dengen Elteren?‎

   Do you still live with your parents?

4. during

Usage notes

• The term bei is usually used with the dative case, unless it is used to express movement towards a particular place, then the accusative case is used.

Mandarin

Romanization

bei (Zhuyin ㄅㄟ˙)

1. Pinyin transcription of 唄, 呗
2. Pinyin transcription of 臂

bei

1. Nonstandard spelling of bēi.
2. Nonstandard spelling of běi.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bèi.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Merei

Noun

bei

1. water

References

• Ying Shing Anthony Chung, A Descriptive Grammar of Merei (Vanuatu) (2005)

Portuguese

Noun

bei m (plural beis)

1. bey (governor of a Turkish dominion)

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bej]

Verb

bei

1. second-person singular present tense form of bea.

   ce bei?

   what are you drinking?

2. second-person singular subjunctive form of bea.

   vrei să bei ceva?

   do you want to drink something?

Roro

bei

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *waiʀ, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.

Noun

bei

1. water (clear liquid H₂O)

Swahili

Noun

bei (n class, plural bei)

1. price (cost required to gain possession of something)

Volapük

Preposition

a bei

1. by