bli

Alternative forms

• blî — Gheg

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bli/

Noun

bli m (plural blirë, definite bliri)

1. linden, lime tree (Tilia)
2. linden flower (used to make linden tea)

Noun

bli m (plural blij, definite blini)

1. sturgeon (Acipenser sturio)

Etymology

From bili, compare Aklanon bili.

Noun

bli

1. worth

Etymology

From Old Dutch *blī, from Proto-West Germanic *blīwī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliː/

Noun

bli n

1. lead

   Synonym: loot

Further reading

• “bli”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “bli”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliː/

Etymology 1

Short form of blive, from Danish blive, from Middle Low German bliven. Meanings 2, 3 and 4 are taken from Old Norse verða, which also has given rise to the dated vorde. In several dialects, the Low German word did not displace the Old Norse word completely. As a result, vart was allowed in past tense besides ble(i) between 1938 and 2005.

Etymology 2

From the expression bli(ve) på sjøen (literally “to remain at sea”). The same word as in etymology 1 above, but secondarily distinguished in form.

References

• “bli” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Alternative forms

• bi (dialectal)

Etymology

Short form of blive, from Middle Norwegian blífa, from Middle Low German bliven. Meaning 2, 3 and 4 are taken from Old Norse verða. The forms vart, vorte and vorten are from verta and verte, also from Old Norse verða.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliː/
• Homophone: blid

Verb

bli (present tense blir, past tense blei or vart, supine blitt or vorte, past participle blitt or vorten, present participle blivande, imperative bli)

1. to stay, remain.

   Kva seier du til å bli heime i staden for å gå på den dumme festen?

   How about staying home instead of going to that stupid party?

   Du blir her!

   You stay here!

2. (as an auxiliary verb to create passive voice with the main verb in past participle) to be

   To personar vart arresterte for tjuveri i går.

   Two people were arrested for theft yesterday.

   Ho vart gripen av angst.

   She was gripped with fear.

3. (change, development over time) to become, get, go.

   Det blir jo berre verre!

   It keeps getting worse!

   Øhm, er det berre meg, eller byrjar du å bli skalla?

   Erm, is it just me, or are you going bald?

4. to be, become, will, going to, turn out,

   Når eg blir stor, skal eg bli lege.

   When I grow up, I'm going to be a doctor.

   Festen vart ein suksess!

   The party turned out to be/was a success!

5. to be necessary, to have to, to be

   Det blir å byrje på nytt, går eg ut frå.

   I have to start over again I guess.

6. (bills and payments) to be, come to

   Det blir 25 kroner.

   That's 25 kroner

References

• “bli” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Alternative forms

• *blīg

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *blīwī.

Noun

blī n

1. lead

Etymology

Apocopic form of bliva, from Old Swedish bliva, from Middle Low German blîven (“to remain”), from Old Saxon bilīvan, from Proto-West Germanic *bilīban, from Proto-Germanic *bilībaną. Displaced Swedish varda completely in the present tense, and partly in the past tense.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bliː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Verb

bli (present blir, preterite blev or (dialectal) vart, supine blivit, imperative bli)

1. to become

   Jag blev glad när jag fick klappa kaninen

   I was [became] happy when I got to pet the rabbit

   Vi stannade tills det blev mörkt

   We stayed until it got [became] dark

   Det blev bra

   It turned out [became] well

   1. to turn into (with an optional preposition till)

      Vattnet blev (till) vin

      The water turned into [became] wine

      Grodan blev (till) en prins

      The frog turned into [became] a prince

      Guldet blev (till) sand

      The gold turned into [became] sand

3. (sometimes dated) to remain, to stay

   Nisse kom och blev stående i dörröppningen

   Nisse came and stopped and remained standing in the doorway (not dated)

   Arbetet blev liggande

   The work stayed lying (not being worked on) (not dated)

   Skomakare, bli vid din läst!

   Cobbler, stick to thy last!

4. (impersonal) to be (in a future sense)

   Det ska bli kul att träffa honom

   It will be [shall become] fun to meet him

5. (auxiliary) used together with an adjective or past participle, meaning "has become"
   • 1915, Dan Andersson, Kolvaktarens Visor, Tjuvskytten

     Mätt av åren, tung och darrhänt
     var han bliven, Jägar-Vilhelm […]

     Full of the years, heavy and trembling
     was he become, Hunter-Vilhelm […]

   Han har blivit gammal

   He has become old

   Det hade blivit kallt

   It had become cold (the weather had gotten colder)

References

• bli in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bli in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bli in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• bil, ibl.