bes
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "bes"
Etymology 1
From Middle English bes.
Pronunciation
Verb
bes
- (now chiefly dialectal) third-person singular simple present indicative of be
- 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:
- 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.
- 1916, The Windsor Magazine - Volume 44, page 353:
- "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."
- 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:
- 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.
- (dialectal, nonstandard) Present tense inflected form of be: am or are.
- 1850, William Stevens Balch, Ireland, as I Saw it:
- 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.
- 2005, Brenda Dooling, The Diamond Cage, →ISBN, page 236:
- 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.
Usage notes
Into the Early Modern English period, be was still sometimes inflected like regular verbs in the ordinary present indicative (i.e. "they be", in addition to "they are"), although "he bes" was uncommon (compare "he beeth").[1] Today, such inflected forms are limited to the alternate, dynamic / lexical conjugation of be described in its Usage notes.
Synonyms
References
- Henry Sweet, A Primer of Historical English Grammar (1893), page 88: The use of be in the pres. indic. is still kept up in Early MnE: I be, thou beest, they be, etc.; the form he bes is, however, very rare.
Etymology 2
Noun
bes (plural besses)
- (historical, numismatics) A bronze coin of the Roman Republic, worth two thirds of an as.
Etymology 3
Noun
bes
Etymology 4
Noun
bes
- Alternative form of beth (“Semitic letter”)
Anagrams
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