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Definition 2024

bli

bli

Albanian

Alternative forms

  • blî (Gheg)

Noun

bli m (indefinite plural blirë, definite singular bliri)

  1. linden, lime tree (Tilia)
  2. linden flower (used to make linden tea)
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-Albanian *blina, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlen- (compare Greek βλέννος ‎(vlénnos)).

Alternative forms

  • blî (Gheg)

Noun

bli m (indefinite plural blij, definite singular blini)

  1. sturgeon (Acipenser sturio)

Lojban

Rafsi

bli

  1. rafsi of bliku.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *blīo, *blī, from Proto-Germanic *blīwą.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bliː/

Noun

bli n

  1. lead

Synonyms

Descendants

  • Dutch: blei (with unetymological ei)

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bli/

Etymology 1

Short form of blive, from Middle Low German bliven. Meanings 2, 3 and 4 are taken from Old Norse verða, which also has given rise to the dated vorde. In several dialects, the Low German word did not displace the Old Norse word completely. As a result, vart was allowed in past tense besides ble(i) between 1938 and 2005.

Verb

bli ‎(imperative bli, present tense blir, simple past ble or blei, past participle blitt, present participle blivende)

  1. to stay, remain.
    Hva sier du til å bli hjemme i stedet for å gå på den dumme festen?
    How about staying home instead of going to that stupid party?
    Du blir her!
    You stay here!
  2. (as an auxiliary verb to create passive voice with the main verb in past participle) to be
    To personer ble arrestert for tyveri i går.
    Two people were arrested for theft yesterday.
    Hun ble grepet av angst.
    She was gripped with fear.
  3. (change, development over time) to become, get, go.
    Det blir jo bare verre!
    It keeps getting worse!
    Øhm, er det bare meg, eller begynner du å bli skallet?
    Erm, is it just me, or are you going bald?
  4. to be, become, will, going to, turn out,
    Når jeg blir stor skal jeg bli lege.
    When I grow up, I'm going to be a doctor.
    Festen ble en suksess!
    The party turned out to be/was a success!
  5. (bills and payments) to be, come to
    Det blir 25 kroner.
    That's 25 kroner
Synonyms
  • (to stay, remain): bestå, dvele, forbli, vedbli, vedvare
  • (to become, get, be): forme seg, forvandle seg, fremkomme/framkomme, føre til, lede til, oppstå, utvikle seg, vokse seg, vorde
  • (bills and payment; to be): beløpe seg til, koste
Derived terms
See also

Etymology 2

From Middle Norwegian blífa and Middle Low German bliven. A short and juxtaposed form of blive.

Alternative forms

Verb

bli ‎(imperative bli, present tense blir, simple past blev or bleiv, past participle blitt, present participle blivende)

  1. (archaic, dialect) to drown
    Han falt over bord og bleiv.
    He fell over board and drowned.
Synonyms

References

  • “bli” in The Ordnett Dictionary
  • “bli” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Short form of blive, from Middle Norwegian blífa, from Middle Low German bliven. Meaning 2, 3 and 4 are taken from Old Norse verða. The second paradigm is from verta/verte, also from Old Norse verða.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bli/

Verb

bli (present tense blir; past tense blei; past participle blitt; present participle blivande; imperative bli)

or

bli (present tense blir; past tense vart; past participle vorte/vorti; present participle vertande; imperative vert)

  1. to stay, remain.
    Hva sier du til å bli heime i staden for å gå på den dumme festen?
    How about staying home instead of going to that stupid party?
    Du blir her!
    You stay here!
  2. (as an auxiliary verb to create passive voice with the main verb in past participle) to be
    To personar vart arresterte for tjuveri i går.
    Two people were arrested for theft yesterday.
    Hun vart grepen av angst.
    She was gripped with fear.
  3. (change, development over time) to become, get, go.
    Det blir jo berre verre!
    It keeps getting worse!
    Øhm, er det berre meg, eller byrjar du å bli skalla?
    Erm, is it just me, or are you going bald?
  4. to be, become, will, going to, turn out,
    Når eg blir stor skal eg bli lege.
    When I grow up, I'm going to be a doctor.
    Festen vart ein suksess!
    The party turned out to be/was a sucess!
  5. to be necessary, to have to, to be
    Det blir å byrje på nytt, går eg ut frå.
    I have to start over again I guess.
  6. (bills and payments) to be, come to
    Det blir 25 kroner.
    That's 25 kroner

Synonyms

to stay, remain
to become, get, be
  • forma seg/forme seg
  • forvandla seg/forvandle seg
  • framkoma/framkomma/framkome/framkomme
  • føra til/føre til
bills and payment; to be

Derived terms

  • blivende
  • bli av
  • bli av med
  • bli etter
  • bli kor ein er
  • bli kjend
  • bli kjend med
  • bli klar over/bli klår over
  • bli med
  • bli seg sjølv igjen
  • bli til
  • bli til at
  • bli ute av seg
  • bli ved med
  • la bli
  • la det bli med det

See also

References

  • “bli” in The Ordnett Dictionary
  • “bli” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Novial

Etymology

From Scandinavian languages, e.g., Swedish and Norwegian.

Verb

bli ‎(past blid)

  1. (auxiliary) Used with the stem-form of a verb in order to denote that verb's passive voice, specifically the "passive of becoming" voice.

See also

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *blīją, *blīwą ‎(“light, glad”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhlī- ‎(“light, pleasant, nice (of weather)”). Akin to Old English blēo "colour, hue, complexion" (North Frisian bläy "colour"), Old Frisian blī ‎(“colour, hue, complexion”), Old English blīþe ‎(“glad”).

Noun

blī n

  1. colour, hue
  2. complexion

Swedish

Etymology

Contraction of earlier bliva, from Middle Low German bliven ‎(“to remain”), from Old Saxon bilīvan, from Proto-Germanic *bilībaną.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -iː

Verb

bli ‎(shorter form of bliva)

  1. to remain, to stay
    Skomakare, bliv vid din läst!
    Cobbler, stick to thy last!
  2. to become; to turn into (with an optional preposition till)
    vattnet blev vin
    the water turned into wine
    grodan blev en prins
    the frog turned into a prince
    guldet blev till sand
    the gold turned into sand
  3. (impersonal) to be (in a future sense)
    Det ska bli kul att träffa honom
    It will be fun to meet him
  4. (auxiliary) used together with a past participle to create a passive voice
    det har blivit mörkt
    it has become dark (the sun has set)
    det hade blivit kallt
    it had become cold (the weather had gotten colder)

Conjugation

Synonyms

  • bliva (archaic, infinitive)
  • blifva (archaic, infinitive)
  • blifwa
  • bliv (archaic, imperative mood)
  • förbli (to remain, stay)
  • förbliva
  • förblifva
  • förblifwa
  • varda (archaic, infinitive)

Related terms

  • bli till

Usage notes

  • The sense to remain, stay used to be more common in 1950 than it is now.
  • Note that bli till (transitively) means turn into, but (intransitively) means to come into being
  • In many dialects, the past tense blev is often replaced with the past tense of varda.

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *blina, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlen- (compare Lithuanian blindìs ‎(“pussy willow”)).

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