Dictionary

bes en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /biːz/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bes.

Meanings

1. (dialectal, form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person) third-person singular simple present indicative of be
   form of be
   • "An' he bes free times as old as herself," he wailed, " an' ugly as a squid ! But he bes rich — rich as any marchant — an' for the bread an' the fixin's an' the gold she bes takin' 'im." 1916, The Windsor Magazine - Volume 44, page 353:
   • And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be. 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:
   • She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares. 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:
2. (dialectal, form-of, nonstandard, present) Present tense inflected form of be: am or are.
   form of be
   • And she bes white. Now, I bes what they use to call a house nigra. I don't work in no fields. And you know, I likes my color. Sho' not real fair, and not real dark either. I bes just who I be. 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:
   • She bes there these five yare, an' has sint hoome foor her broother an' sister, the mooney for their passage, an' they bes goone these thra yares. 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:

Forms

Synonyms

is

bes en · NOUN · etymology 2

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin bes.

Meanings

1. (historical) A bronze coin of the Roman Republic, worth two thirds of an as.

Forms

bes en · NOUN · etymology 3

Meanings

1. (form-of, plural) plural of be (“Cyrillic letter”)
   form of be

bes en · NOUN · etymology 4

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of beth (“Semitic letter”).
   alt of beth