biel

See also: Biel and bîel

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French bille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bil/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: biel
• Rhymes: -il

Noun

biel f (plural biels, diminutive bieltje n)

1. (archaic) railway sleeper

Usage notes

The plural form has been reanalysed as a new singular form. The original singular is no longer commonly used.

Synonyms

• biels
• dwarsligger

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin bellus.

Adjective

biel m (plural biei, feminine biele, feminine plural bielis)

1. beautiful, handsome

Related terms

• bielece

Istriot

Alternative forms

• bielo

Etymology

From Latin bellus.

Adjective

biel m (plural bai, feminine biela, feminine plural biele)

1. beautiful
   • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 68:

     Ma sulo i tuoi bai uoci, anema meîa,

     But only your beautiful eyes, oh soul of mine,

Related terms

• balissa

Maltese

Root
b-w-l
2 terms

Etymology

From Arabic بالَ (bāla).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪːl/

Verb

biel (imperfect jbul)

1. (chiefly informal) to pee, piss, urinate

   Synonyms: għadda l-awrina, għamel l-awrina, (rarely) awrina

Usage notes

• This verb is usually equivalent to English “pee” or “piss” (though not as vulgar as the latter). However, biel is at times found in formal texts, as it is the inherited Arabic word and may thus be favoured in purist style.

Conjugation

Conjugation of biel
		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	bilt	bilt	biel		bilna	biltu	bielu
	f			bielet
imperfect	m	nbul	tbul	jbul		nbulu	tbulu	jbulu
	f			tbul
imperative			bul				bulu

Old Polish

Alternative forms

• bil

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bělъ. First attested in the 15th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /bjɛːlʲ/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /bjelʲ/

Noun

biel m animacy unattested

1. wheat flour
   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Ex”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎^[1], 9, 32:

     Pszenycza a byel nye gest zabyta (triticum autem et far non sunt laesa)

     [Pszenica a biel nie jest zabita (triticum autem et far non sunt laesa)]

   • 1874-1891 [15th century], Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności‎^{[2], [3], [4]}, volume XXIV, Grochów, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Kcynia, page 65:

     Saciatus hoc ex adipe bely tritico

     [Saciatus hoc ex adipe bieli tritico]

2. unsalted fat
   • 1900 [1472], Józef Rostafiński, editor, Symbola ad historiam naturalem medii aevi = Średniowieczna historya naturalna w Polsce. Ps 2‎^[5], number 472:

     Beel, polecz slonini albugium, lardum

     [Biel, połeć, słoniny albugium, lardum]

3. mud, swamp
   • 1912-1930 [1426], Monumenta Iuris cura praepositorum Chartophylacio Maximo Varsoviensi, volume V, page 40:

     Paludinem dictam byel

     [Paludinem dictam biel]

   • 1912-1930 [1427], Monumenta Iuris cura praepositorum Chartophylacio Maximo Varsoviensi, volume V, page 82:

     Octo mansos... in vertice Maslowa byel sitos

     [Octo mansos... in vertice Masłowa biel sitos]

4. white lead
   • 1900 [1472], Józef Rostafiński, editor, Symbola ad historiam naturalem medii aevi = Średniowieczna historya naturalna w Polsce. Ps 2‎^[6], number 33:

     Byel cerusa

     [Biel cerusa]

5. (attested in Lesser Poland) The meaning of this term is uncertain.
   • 1907 [c. 1470], Jakub Parkoszowic, edited by Jan Łoś, Traktat o ortografii polskiej‎^[7], Żurawica, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Krakow, page 401:

     Omnes eciam vocales modo longantur modo patulo breviantur. Ex quarum longacione et breviacione diversus consurgit sensus diccionum. Exemplum... de e sicut beel, bel

     [Omnes eciam vocales modo longantur modo patulo breviantur. Ex quarum longacione et breviacione diversus consurgit sensus diccionum. Exemplum... de e sicut biēl, biĕl]

References

• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “biel”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Polish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈbjɛl/

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈbjel/
• (Masovia):
  • (Near Masovian) IPA^(key): /ˈbjɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Syllabification: biel

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Polish biel, from Proto-Slavic *bělь.

Noun

biel f

1. white (color)

   Synonym: białość

2. white (dye)
3. white (clothes)

   ubrany w biel ― dressed in white

4. (Near Masovian) wetlands; lowland

Declension

Declension of biel

	singular
nominative	biel
genitive	bieli
dative	bieli
accusative	biel
instrumental	bielą
locative	bieli
vocative	bieli

Related terms

adjective

• biały

 

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bělь.

Noun

biel m inan

1. sapwood

Declension

Declension of biel

	singular	plural
nominative	biel	biele
genitive	bielu	bieli
dative	bielowi	bielom
accusative	biel	biele
instrumental	bielem	bielami
locative	bielu	bielach
vocative	bielu	biele

Derived terms

adjective

• bielasty

 

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

biel

1. second-person singular imperative of bielić

Further reading

• biel in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• biel in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Zygmunt Wasilewski (1889) “biel”, in Jagodne: wieś w powiecie łukowskim, gminie Dąbie: zarys etnograficzny (in Polish), Warsaw: M. Arct, page 240

Serbo-Croatian

Adjective

biel (Cyrillic spelling биел)

1. Obsolete spelling of bijel.