bist

See also: bîst, and bīst

English

Etymology

From Middle English bist, beest, best, from Old English bist ("(thou) art"; second person singular of bēon (“to be”)), from Proto-Germanic *biusi (“(thou) art”), equivalent to be +‎ -est. Cognate with West Frisian bist (“(thou) art”), Low German büst (“(thou) art”), German bist (“(thou) art”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪst

Verb

bist

1. (UK dialectal, Black Country, Bristol, West Country, Northern England) Used to form the second person singular of be.
   • 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?

   How bist?

   How are you?

Related terms

• bin
• bisn't

Anagrams

• ITBS, ITBs, TBIs, bits, stib-, tibs

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

bist

1. (obsolete or dialectal) second-person singular present of zijn

German

Etymology

From Old High German bist. Cognate to Middle Dutch bes, best, 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)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪst/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present of sein

   Du bist nicht mein Sohn.

   You are not my son.

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪst/

Verb

bist

1. first/second-person singular perfect of bies

Middle English

Alternative forms

• beest, best

Etymology

From Old English bist ("(thou) art"; second person singular of bēon (“to be”)), from Proto-Germanic *biusi (“(thou) art”), equivalent to been +‎ -est.

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present indicative of been

Usage notes

This form is less common than art for the second-person singular.

Descendants

• English: bist, beest (archaic or dialectal)

Old English

Alternative forms

• bis — Mercian
• beost

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present indicative of bēon

Descendants

• Middle English: bist, beest, best
  • English: bist, beest (archaic or dialectal)

Old High German

Verb

bist

1. second-person singular present indicative of wesan

Tat

Etymology

Cognate with Persian بیست (bist).

Numeral

bist

1. twenty

Wakhi

Etymology

From Tajik бист (bist).

Numeral

bist

1. twenty

West Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪst/

Etymology 1

From Old Frisian bist, second person singular indicative of wesa (“to be”). Cognate with English bist, German bist.

Verb

bist

1. second person singular indicative of wêze

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Latin bēstia.

Noun

bist n (plural bisten, diminutive bistje or bistke)

1. animal, beast

   De bisten binne fuort. ― The animals are gone.

Alternative forms

• beest

Derived terms

• leavehearsbistke

Further reading

• “beest”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Yagnobi

Numeral

bist

1. twenty

Further reading

• Ronald Emmerick (1992) “Iranian”, in Jadranka Gvozdanović, editor, Indo-European Numerals, Mouton de Gruyter, →DOI, →ISBN, page 312