Bee

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: bÄ“, IPA: /biː/
• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: b, be, Bea

From Middle English bee, from Old English bēo, from Proto-Germanic *bijō (compare West Frisian and Dutch bij, Upper German Beie, Danish and Swedish bi), from Proto-Indo-European *bʱi- (compare Old Irish bech ("bee"), Welsh bydaf ("beehive"), Latin fūcus ("drone"), Latvian bite ("bee"), Russian пчела (pčelá, "bee")).

Full definition of bee

Noun

1. A flying insect, of the superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies and for collecting pollen and producing wax and honey.
• 1499, John Skelton, The Bowge of Courte:His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge ....
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.12:An angry Wasp th'one in a viall had,
  Th'other in hers an hony-laden Bee.
• 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.12:Can there be a more formall, and better ordered policie, divided into so severall charges and offices, more constantly entertained, and better maintained, than that of Bees?
• 2012, ‘Subtle poison’, The Economist, 31 Mar 2012:Bees pollinate many of the world’s crops—a service estimated to be worth $15 billion a year in America alone.

Derived terms

Synonyms

• (flying insect of the order Hymenoptera) king of insects

Possibly from dialectal English bene, been, bean ("help given by neighbours"), from Middle English been, bene ("neighbourly help, prayer, petition, request, extra service given by a tenant to his lord"),

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/bee

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bee%5B3%5D

from Old English bēn ("prayer, request, petition, favour, compulsory service") from Proto-Germanic *bōniz ("prayer, request, supplication"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ("to say, speak"). Cognate with Danish bøn ("prayer"), Dutch ban ("curse"), German Bann ("ban"). More at ban.

Noun

1. A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.geography bee
2. A gathering for a specific purpose, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
• S. G. GoodrichThe cellar ... was dug by a bee in a single day.
• 2011, Tim Blanning, "The reinvention of the night", Times Literary Supplement, 21 Sep 2011:Particularly resistant, for example, in many parts of northern Europe was the “spinning bee”, a nocturnal gathering of women to exchange gossip, stories, refreshment and – crucially – light and heat, as they spun wool or flax, knitted or sewed.

(Northern development of) Old English bēah.

Noun

1. (obsolete) A ring or torque; a bracelet.
• 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VII:And Kynge Arthure gaff hir a ryche bye of golde; and so she departed.
• 1658, Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial, Penguin 2005, page 16:...restoring unto the world much gold richly adorning his Sword, two hundred Rubies, many hundred Imperial Coynes, three hundred golden Bees, the bones and horseshoe of his horse enterred with him...

Variant spellings.

Verb

verb

1. Obsolete spelling of be
• 1604 Reverend Cawdrey Table Alephheld that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’
2. (obsolete) Past participle of be; been

Noun