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bee

Pronunciation: /ˈbiː/

The English word “bee” has 7 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species) producing wax and honey.
  2. Any stinging flying insect, especially a wasp.
  3. A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
  4. A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
  5. A ring or torque; a bracelet.
  6. The name of the Latin script letter B/b.
  7. Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.

Etymology

From Middle English be, bee, beo, bey, from Old English bēo, bīo (“bee”), from Proto-West Germanic *bijā, from Proto-Germanic *bijǭ (“bee”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰey- (“bee”). Cognates Cognate with Yola been (“bees”), North Frisian bi (“bee”), West Frisian bij (“bee”), Dutch bij, by (“bee”), German Biene (“bee”), Limburgish Bé, bie (“bee”), Luxembourgish Bei (“bee”), Vilamovian byn (“bee”),…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.