B

B U+0042, B LATIN CAPITAL LETTER B ← A [U+0041] Basic Latin C → [U+0043]

From the Etruscan letter 𐌁 (b, be), from the Ancient Greek letter Β (B, beta), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤁 (b, bet), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉐.

B (lower case b)

1. The second letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

The letter B (usually its lower case form b) is used in several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent the bilabial plosive or stop, usually voiced (/b/).

• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Jj  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz
• (Variations of letter B):  Ḃḃ  Ḅḅ  Ḇḇ  Ƀƀ  Ɓɓ  Ƃƃ  ᵬ  ᶀ  ʙ  Ｂｂ  ȸ  ℔  Ꞗꞗ
• For more variations, see Appendix:Variations of "b".
• (other scripts) Β (Beta), Б (Be), В (Ve), ב (Beth)

B

1. A blood type that has a specific antigen that aggravates the immune response in people with type A antigen in their blood. They can receive blood from type B or type O, but cannot receive blood from AB or A.
2. (chemistry) The chemical element boron.
3. Eleven, especially used in the base more than ten, such as duodecimal, hexadecimal, vigesimal and so on.

   The equivalent numbers of decimal 1611 are duodecimal B23, hexadecimal 64B, vigesimal 40B and so on.

4. (biochemistry) As an IUPAC code for amino acids, aspartic acid or asparagine.
5. (physics) A magnetic flux density.
6. (linguistics) A wildcard for a labial consonant
7. (linguistics) low tone (e.g. in French-language text)
8. (finance) Long-term bond credit rating by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings, indicating that a bond is highly speculative with high risk of default.
9. (clothing) Bra cup size.

• Letter styles
• 
  Uppercase and lowercase versions of B, in normal and italic type
• 
  Uppercase and lowercase B in Fraktur
• 
  B in uncial script

• (blood type): from antigen B
• (symbol for boron): abbreviation of boron
• (hexadecimal 11): The eleventh item from the sequence {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F}

Other representations of B:

NATO phonetic: Bravo Morse code: –··· Braille: ⠃ ASL Manual: B

Signal flag:

Semaphore:

• B on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/
• (letter name) IPA^(key): /biː/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

From the Old English letter B, from 7th century replacement by Latin B of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᛒ (b, beorc).

B (upper case, lower case b, plural Bs or B's)

1. The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
   • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

     Boxer could not get beyond the letter D. He would trace out A, B, C, D, in the dust with his great hoof […]

In Modern English, the letter B is sometimes silent, e.g. in climb, and debt.

Apostrophes are sometimes used to form plurals of single upper case letters, especially at the start of a sentence:

A’s are difficult to achieve in this class.

Usually, though, the apostrophe is avoided when there is no risk of confusion:

She gets straight As in school.

• (Latin script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The ordinal number second, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

From abbreviations of various terms beginning with or containing the letter ‘B’.

• (billion): abbreviation of billion
• (cricket): abbreviation of balls
• (bitch): abbreviation of bitch

B (usually uncountable, plural Bs)

1. The quantity one billion (1,000,000,000), usually used to signify a sum of money.

   $2.8 B ― two point eight billion dollars (i.e., $2,800,000,000)

2. (British) The grade of pencil, “black”, that makes darker marks than grade HB but lighter marks than grade 2B; a pencil with soft lead.
3. (chess) Bishop.
4. (cricket) The number of balls faced by a batsman.
5. (music) Bass.
6. (euphemistic, countable) Bitch.
   • 2011 December 25, Robert M. Emerson, Rachel I. Fretz, Linda L. Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, Second Edition, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 99:

     [quoting an ethnographer’s account:] He then called me a “dumb B” and hung up the phone. Meredith pauses, looks at Graciela, and says, “Okay, I need you to be as specific as you can, so that means you’re going to have to tell me what he called you, exactly.” […] Graciela grabs the pen and writes down, “Dumb Bitch.” […] Robert then arrived at my house that day to see our son and upon leaving said, “I’ll see you in court you Dumb B.”

   • 2016 May 23, Caron Lipman, Co-habiting with Ghosts: Knowledge, Experience, Belief and the Domestic Uncanny, Routledge, →ISBN, page 179:

     And then he looked again and she wasn’t there. So he probably thought, ‘Stupid B’. You know.

7. (chiefly African-American Vernacular, MLE) Abbreviation of blood and blud: used to address a friend, especially a male.^[1]

   Alternative form: b

   • 2018 October 8, Ruby Bloom, “What your favourite social media says about you”, in The Tab‎^[2]:

     You’re a fuckboy whose most used phrase is, "wag one b, wys?"[.] Pulling girls at Gravity Monday is the highlight of your week. You constantly send selfies flexing your muscles and showing off your ‘six pack.’

8. (immunology, countable) A B cell.
   • 2020 May 2, “Leaving lockdown means understanding immune responses to the virus”, in The Economist‎^[3]:

     Mind your Bs and Ts
     […] And if the combined efforts of macrophages, b cells and t cells are sufficient, the pathogen will be beaten back and eventually cleared from the body.

B

1. (computing) byte

• (computing): Bps, B/s
• (computing): kB, MB, GB, TB, PB, EB

• (computing): b (bit)

B

1. (stenoscript) A suffix ending in -ble, optionally with a preceding vowel (-ible, -able).

• Bl (“-ably” or “-ibly”)

From the use of the letter ‘B’ as an arbitrary label among other letter labels.

• (personality type): from contrast with the letter ‘A’ and its corresponding personality type
• (academic grade): from the position of the letter ‘B’ in the English alphabet

B (plural Bs)

1. A personality type describing people who are relaxed and easygoing and able to engage in leisure activities without worrying about work.
3. An academic grade, better than a C and worse than an A.
4. Signifies a second-tier or second class of a given commodity, group, or category, as in B-movie, B-list, etc.

   The television studio revived some of its B characters for the spinoff.

   • 1999, Michael Sauter, The Worst Movies of All Time, Or, What Were They Thinking?, page 268:

     The baddest of the Bs, then, are a rare, precious mix of jerry-built production values and jazzed-up creative juices. But that’s not to say that even with a budget, a B movie can’t still bounce way off the wall, […]

5. The alternate or secondary part, such as the back side of a phonograph record. Contrasted with ‘A’, which is the primary part.
7. (music) The seventh note in the C major scale.

Apostrophes are sometimes used to form plurals of single upper case letters, especially at the start of a sentence:

A’s are difficult to achieve in this class.

Usually, though, the apostrophe is avoided when there is no risk of confusion:

She gets straight As in school.

Possibly a contraction of BCPL (“Basic Combined Programming Language”), the name of a programming language from which B was derived. Dennis Ritchie (a coworker of B’s designer, Ken Thompson) speculated that B might be based on Bon (the name of an earlier, but unrelated, programming language that Thompson designed for use on Multics), itself either from Bonnie (the name of Thompson’s wife) or “(according to an encyclopedia quotation in its manual), after a religion whose rituals involve the murmuring of magic formulas”.^[2]

B

2. (computer languages) A programming language from which C is derived.

• B (programming language) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

B

1. The second letter in the Afar alphabet.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, T t, S s, E e, C c, K k, X x, I i, D d, Q q, R r, F f, G g, O o, L l, M m, N n, U u, W w, H h, Y y

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /bɪə/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Afrikaans alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

B (plural B's, diminutive B'tjie)

1. B

B

1. The thirty-first letter of the Angami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) Ü ü, Üi üi, A a, Ai ai, I i, Ie ie, U u, Uo uo, E e, Ei ei, O o, Ou ou, K k, Kh kh, G g, Ng ng, C c, Ch ch, J j, Jh jh, Ny ny, T t, Th th, D d, N n, Ts ts, Tsh tsh, Dz dz, P p, Ph ph, B b, M m, Pf pf, Bv bv, Y y, Yh yh, R r, Rh rh, L l, Lh lh, F f, V v, W w, Wh wh, S s, Sh sh, Z z, Zh zh, H h

B upper case (lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) hərf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

• IPA^(key): /be/, [be̞]

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Basque alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, (Ç ç), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L, l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, (Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

B

1. The second letter of the Blagar alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ng ng, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Sy sy, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbe]

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) alfabet català; Aa, Bb, Cc, (Çç), Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, (L·Ll·l), Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

• /b/ is from West Germanic stem-initial *b, in Ripuarian and northernmost Moselle Franconian also from geminated *bb.

• IPA^(key): /b/, (coda) [p]

B

1. A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
2. A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.

• IPA^(key): /ɓ/

B (lower case b)

1. A letter of the Mazahua alphabet.

B

1. (Mandarin, chiefly Internet slang) Alternative form of 屄 (bī)

Short for BB (bi^1-4 bi¹, “baby”), from English baby.

B

1. (Cantonese) baby (Classifier: 個／个 c)

   喂，睇住個B啊！ [Cantonese, trad.]
   喂，睇住个B啊！ [Cantonese, simp.]

   wai³, tai² zyu⁶ go³ bi¹ aa³! [Jyutping]

   Hey, look after the baby!

2. (Cantonese) Used to call somebody affectionately.

Cantonese boi1

Spelling pronunciation in Hong Kong, derived from English boy.

B

1. The second letter of the Latin alphabet.

B

1. The second letter used in Pinyin.

• 《汉语拼音方案》 defines a standard pronunciation for each letter. However, these pronunciations are rarely used in education; another pronunciation is commonly used instead.
• The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).

1. IPA^(key): /p/

B (lower case b)

1. A letter of the Chipewyan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• IPA^(key): /beː/

B

1. B (the 2nd letter in the Czech alphabet)

• (Latin-script letters) písmeno; A a, Á á, B b, C c, Č č, D d, Ď ď, E e, É é, Ě ě, F f, G g, H h, Ch ch, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ň ň, O o, Ó ó, P p, Q q, R r, Ř ř, S s, Š š, T t, Ť ť, U u, Ú ú, Ů ů, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Ý ý, Z z, Ž ž

B

1. (music) B flat

• IPA^(key): /beː/

• Audio:

  (file)

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) letter; Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

• ᛒ (Dalecarlian runes)

B (upper case B, lower case b)

1. The third letter of the Elfdalian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /bo/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone (letter name): bo-

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called bo and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) litero; Aa, Bb, Cc, Ĉĉ, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ĝĝ, Hh, Ĥĥ, Ii, Jj, Ĵĵ, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Ŝŝ, Tt, Uu, Ŭŭ, Vv, Zz

• (letter name, bee): IPA^(key): /ˈb̥eː/, [ˈb̥eː]
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ˈb̥/, [ˈb̥]

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Estonian alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) täht; A a, B b (C c), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p (Q q), R r, S s, Š š, Z z, Ž ž, T t, U u, V v (W w), Õ õ, Ä ä, Ö ö, Ü ü (X x, Y y)

B (lower case ʙ)

1. (obsolete) A letter of the Unified Northern Alphabet.

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and B for information on the development of the glyph itself.

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Finnish alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

• Used only in loanwords.

• (Latin-script letters) kirjain; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s (Š š), T t, U u, V v (W w), X x, Y y, Z z (Ž ž), Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö

B

1. Abbreviation of lubenter approbatur.
2. Alternative letter-case form of b (“B flat (musical note)”)

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) lettre; A a (À à,  â, Æ æ), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, È è, Ê ê, Ë ë), F f, G g, H h, I i (Πî, Ï ï), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n (Ñ ñ), O o (Ô ô, Œ œ), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ù ù, Û û, Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y (Ÿ ÿ), Z z

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Galician alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ï ï), L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o (Ó ó), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ü ü), V v, X x, Z z

• IPA^(key): /beː/

• Audio:

  (file)

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the German alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) Buchstabe; A a (Ä ä), B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ö ö), P p, Q q, R r, S s (ẞ ß), T t, U u (Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

B n (strong, genitive B, no plural)

1. (music) B-flat

• H (“B (musical note)”)

• IPA^(key): /p/

B (lower case b)

1. A letter of the Heiltsuk alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Á á, A̓ a̓, B b, C c, C̓ c̓, D d, Ꟛ ꟛ, G g, Gv gv, Ǧ ǧ, Ǧv ǧv, H h, H̓ h̓, Ħ ħ, I i, Í í, I̓ i̓, K k, Kv kv, K̓ k̓, K̓v k̓v, L l, ʼL l̓, Ḷ ḷ, Ḷ́ ḷ́, ʼḶ ḷ̓, Ɫ ɫ, M m, ʼM m̓, Ṃ ṃ, Ṃ́ ṃ́, ʼṂ ṃ̓, N n, ʼN n̓, Ṇ ṇ, Ṇ́ ṇ́, ʼṆ ṇ̓, P p, P̓ p̓, Q q, Qv qv, Q̓ q̓, Q̓v q̓v, S s, T t, T̓ t̓, Ƛ ƛ, Ƛ̓ ƛ̓, U u, Ú ú, U̓ u̓, W w, ʼW w̓, X x, Xv xv, X̌ x̌, X̌v x̌v, Y y, ʼY y̓, Z z, ʔ

• b (in music)

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈb]
• (letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈbeː]

• Audio:

  (file)

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The third letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called bé and written in the Latin script.
2. (music) Alternative form of b (“B-flat, B♭”, the 11th note of the C chromatic scale)

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	B	B-k
accusative	B-t	B-ket
dative	B-nek	B-knek
instrumental	B-vel	B-kkel
causal-final	B-ért	B-kért
translative	B-vé	B-kké
terminative	B-ig	B-kig
essive-formal	B-ként	B-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	B-ben	B-kben
superessive	B-n	B-ken
adessive	B-nél	B-knél
illative	B-be	B-kbe
sublative	B-re	B-kre
allative	B-hez	B-khez
elative	B-ből	B-kből
delative	B-ről	B-kről
ablative	B-től	B-ktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	B-é	B-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	B-éi	B-kéi

Possessive forms of B
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	B-m	B-im
2nd person sing.	B-d	B-id
3rd person sing.	B-je	B-i
1st person plural	B-nk	B-ink
2nd person plural	B-tek	B-itek
3rd person plural	B-jük	B-ik

• (Latin-script letters) betű; A a, Á á, B b, C c, Cs cs, D d, Dz dz, Dzs dzs, E e, É é, F f, G g, Gy gy, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, Ly ly, M m, N n, Ny ny, O o, Ó ó, Ö ö, Ő ő, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Sz sz, T t, Ty ty, U u, Ú ú, Ü ü, Ű ű, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z, Zs zs

• (the letter and symbol): (1): b in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (in music): (2): b in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• b in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

B (lower case b)

1. The third letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) bókstafur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, É é, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, X x, Y y, Ý ý, Þ þ, Æ æ, Ö ö

• IPA^(key): /b/

B (lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L, l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Irish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) litir; A a (Á á), B b (Bh bh, bhF bhf, bP bp), C c (Ch ch), D d (Dh dh, dT dt), E e (É é), F f (Fh fh), G g (gC gc, Gh gh), H h, I i (Í í), L l, M m (mB mb, Mh mh), N n (nD nd, nG ng), O o (Ó ó), P p (Ph ph), R r, S s (Sh sh), T t (Th th, tS ts), U u (Ú ú), V v
• (diacritics) ◌́ ◌̇
• (dotted letters used chiefly in Gaelic type) Ḃ ḃ, Ċ ċ, Ḋ ḋ, Ḟ ḟ, Ġ ġ, Ṁ ṁ, Ṗ ṗ, Ṡ ẛ ṡ, Ṫ ṫ

• (letter name) IPA^(key): ^**/ˈbi/^*
  • Rhymes: -i
• (phonemic realization) IPA^(key): /b/

B f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Italian alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) lettera; A a (À à), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Î î, J j, K k), L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v (W w, X x, Y y), Z z
• Italian alphabet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

B (lower case ʙ)

1. (obsolete) A letter of the Unified Northern Alphabet.

• IPA^(key): /b/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Kalo Finnish Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.^[1]

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, Ȟ ȟ, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, W w, Y y, Z z, Ž ž, Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and B for development of the glyph itself.

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The fourth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, àã, B b, C c, D d, E e, É é, Ë ë, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, O o, Ò ò, Ó ó, Ô ô, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ù ù, W w, Y y, Z z, Ż ż

B (lower case ʙ)

1. (obsolete) A letter of the Unified Northern Alphabet.

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. A letter in the Latin alphabet, representing the sound /b/

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, V v, X x, Y y, Z z

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

• IPA^(key): [b]

• Audio:

  (file)

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The third letter of the Latvian alphabet, called bē and written in the Latin script.

• Letters of the Latvian alphabet:

  burti: Aa, Āā, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ēē, Ff, Gg, Ģģ, Hh, Ii, Īī, Jj, Kk, Ķķ, Ll, Ļļ, Mm, Nn, Ņņ, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Ūū, Vv, Zz, Žž

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [bi]
• (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA^(key): [b]
• (Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA^(key): [p̚]

B

1. The second letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) ittra; A a, B b, Ċ ċ, D d, E e, F f, Ġ ġ, G g, Għ għ, H h, Ħ ħ, I i, Ie ie, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Ż ż, Z z

B (lower case b)

1. A letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a (Á á, Ą ą, Ą́ ą́), B b, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, D d, Dl dl, Dz dz, E e (É é, Ę ę, Ę́ ę́), G g, Gh gh, H h, Hw hw, X x, I i (Í í, Į į, Į́ į́), J j, K k, Kʼ kʼ, Kw kw, ʼ, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n (Ń ń), O o (Ó ó, Ǫ ǫ, Ǫ́ ǫ́), S s, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Tł tł, Tłʼ tłʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

• b

From Latin B, from Etruscan 𐌁 (b, be), from Ancient Greek Β (B, beta), from the Phoenician 𐤁 (b, bet), from Proto-Canaanite , from Proto-Sinaitic , from Egyptian 𓉐, representing the plan of a house.

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /beː/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eː
• Hyphenation: B
• Homophones: b, be

B (lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz, Ææ, Øø, Åå

B m (definite singular B-en, indefinite plural B-er, definite plural B-ene)

1. the letter B, the second letter of the Norwegian alphabet
   • 1873, Henrik Ibsen, Kærlighedens komedie, page 14:

     [ordet «neste»] skulde ud af verden uden nåde, som b og g af Knudsens grammatik

     [the word «next»] was to come out of the world without grace, as b and g of Knudsen's grammar

3. Denoting the second, or number two, on a scale, order or degree.

   B-post, B-lag, blodtype B, energiklasse B ― B-post, B-team, blood type B, energy class B

   øl i klasse B ― beer with 0.7–2.75 volume percent alcohol

   førerkort klasse B ― driving license class B

   plan B ― plan B

   • 2003, Espen Søbye, Kathe, alltid vært i Norge:

     øverst i oppgang b lå den nye presteboligen med åtte rom, hall, entré og kjøkken

     at the top of entrance b was the new parsonage with eight rooms, hall, entrance and kitchen

4. the second highest grade in a school or university using the A-F scale

   få B til eksamen

   receive an B on an exam

   • 2019, Helene Uri, Stillheten etterpå, page 14:

     jeg har gode karakterer. Bare A-er og B-er

     I have good grades. Only A's and B's

5. (music) the tone h lowered by half a step

   B-dur og B-moll

   B major and B minor

   stemt i B ― tuned so that a C on the instrument sounds like B in the normal scale

   • 1944, Børre Qvamme, Musikk, pages 35–36:

     enhver tone er mangetydig, fiss er også gess, diss er ess, b er aiss og så videre

     every tone is ambiguous, fiss is also gess, diss is ace, b is aiss and so on

   • 2000, Bjørnar Pedersen og Egil Birkeland, Hillman Hunter:

     skotske sekkepiper stemmes i B

     Scottish bagpipes are tuned in B

6. (music) a B-flat (sign indicating that the following note is to be lowered by half a step)
   • 1974, Jens Bjørneboe, Haiene, page 98:

     ingen vil påstå at notebladet med nøkler, kryss og b’er er selve musikken

     no one will claim that the sheet music with keys, crosses and bs is the music itself

7. Abbreviation of bass (“bass”).
8. (physics) symbol for bel (“bel”)
9. (chemistry) symbol for bor (“boron”)

• “B” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “B” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “B (bokstav)” in Store norske leksikon
• “B (notasjon)” in Store norske leksikon
• “B (tone)” in Store norske leksikon
• “B (atomsymbol)” in Store norske leksikon

• b

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) banki; A a (Á á, À à), B b, C c, D d, Dz dz, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì), J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, Ts ts, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and B for development of the glyph itself.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The third letter of the Polish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, Ę ę, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à, Â â, Ã ã), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, Ê ê), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ô ô, Õ õ), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• IPA^(key): /b/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, X x, I i, J j, K k, Kh kh, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Ph ph, R r, S s, T t, Th th, U u, V v, Z z International Standard: (À à, Ä ä, Ǎ ǎ), Ć ć, Ćh ćh, (È è, Ë ë, Ě ě), (Ì ì, Ï ï, Ǐ ǐ), (Ò ò, Ö ö, Ǒ ǒ), Rr rr, Ś ś, (Ù ù, Ü ü, Ǔ ǔ), Ź ź, Ʒ ʒ, Q q, Ç ç, ϴ θ. Pan-Vlax: Č č, Čh čh, Dž dž, (Dź dź), Ř ř, Š š, (Ś ś), Ž ž, (Ź ź).

• IPA^(key): /b/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The fourth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called be or bî and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Ăă, Ââ, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Îî, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Șș, Tt, Țț, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

B

1. Abbreviation of București, the capital city of Romania.

• IPA^(key): /pʼ/

B

1. The fourth letter of the Saanich alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A, Á, Ⱥ, B, C, Ć, Ȼ, D, E, H, I, Í, J, K, Ꝁ, Ꝃ, ₭, Ḵ, Ḱ, L, Ƚ, M, N, Ṉ, O, P, Q, S, Ś, T, Ⱦ, Ṯ, Ŧ, U, W, W̱, X, X̱, Y, Z, s, ¸

• IPA^(key): /p/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Scottish Gaelic alphabet, written in the Latin script. It is preceded by a and followed by c. Its traditional name is beith (“birch”).

• (Latin-script letters) litir; A a (À à), B b (Bh bh), C c (Ch ch), D d (Dh dh), E e (È è), F f (Fh fh), G g (Gh gh), H h, I i (Ì ì), L l, M m (Mh mh), N n, O o (Ò ò), P p (Ph ph), R r, S s (Sh sh), T t (Th th), U u (Ù ù)
• (diacritics) ◌̀
• (obsolete vowels) Á á É é Ó ó

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and B for development of the glyph itself.

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The third letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, àã, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ŏ ŏ, Ō ō, Ô ô, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/

B (lower case b)

1. The third letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) bukva; A a,  â, B b, C c, Č č, Ʒ ʒ, Ǯ ǯ, D d, Đ đ, E e, F f, G g, Ǧ ǧ, Ǥ ǥ, H h, I i, J j, K k, Ǩ ǩ, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, O o, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, Z z, Ž ž, Å å, Ä ä, ʹ

From Gaj's Latin alphabet B, from Czech alphabet B, from the Etruscan letter 𐌁 (b, be), from the Ancient Greek letter Β (B, beta), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤁 (b, bet), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉐. Pronunciation as /bə/ is initial Slovene (phoneme plus a fill vowel) and the second pronunciation is probably taken from German B.

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/, [p], [b̪]
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /bə́/, /bèː/, /béː/

• Audio (letter name, non-tonal):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ə, -eː

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.
2. The third letter of the Slovene alphabet (Resian), written in the Latin script.
3. The second letter of the Slovene alphabet (Natisone Valley dialect), written in the Latin script.

B

1. (SNPT, not allowed to be in lower case) Phonetic transcription of sound [b̪].

B m inan

1. The name of the Latin script letter B / b.

• Overall more common

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing.	B
gen. sing.	B-ja
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	B	B-ja	B-ji
genitive (rodȋlnik)	B-ja	B-jev	B-jev
dative (dajȃlnik)	B-ju	B-jema	B-jem
accusative (tožȋlnik)	B	B-ja	B-je
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	B-ju	B-jih	B-jih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	B-jem	B-jema	B-ji

• More common when with a definite adjective

Masculine inan., no endings
nom. sing.	B
gen. sing.	B
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	B	B	B
accusative	B	B	B
genitive	B	B	B
dative	B	B	B
locative	B	B	B
instrumental	B	B	B

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Vv, Zz, Žž
• ʙ

• “B”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2024

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ba/

B upper case (lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Somali alphabet, called ba and written in the Latin script.

The second letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows the Arabic abjad order. It is preceded by ' and followed by T.

• (Latin-script letters) ʼ, B b, T t, J j, X x, Kh kh, D d, R r, S s, Sh sh, Dh dh, C c, G g, F f, Q q, K k, L l, M m, N n, W w, H h, Y y, A a, E e, I i, O o, U u

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Spanish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o (Ó ó), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Likely from B movies in (sense 2).

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. the second letter of the Swedish alphabet

B

1. (SAB) general and miscellaneous

   Meronyms: Ba, Bb, Bd, Be, Bf, Bg, Bh, Bi, Bk, Bl, Br, Bs, Bt, Bu, Bv

2. (zoning) Area reserved for bostäder (“residential etc.”).

   Holonym: kvartersmark

B

1. indication of being of lesser rank, less successful

   Antonym: A

3. (colloquial) low-quality, shoddy, bad

   Dialogen i filmen är rätt B

   The dialogue in the movie is pretty janky

• B-aktie (“class B share”)
• B-lag (“second raters”)

B

1. an academic grade, better than a C and worse than an A

   Coordinate terms: A, B, C, D, E

Borrowed from Spanish B. Each pronunciation has a different source:

• Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English B.
• Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish B.
• Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by Baybayin character ᜊ (ba).

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈbi/ [ˈbi] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
    • Rhymes: -i
  • IPA^(key): /ˈbe/ [ˈbɛ] (letter name, Abecedario)
    • Rhymes: -e
  • IPA^(key): /ˈba/ [ˈba] (letter name, Abakada alphabet)
    • Rhymes: -a
  • IPA^(key): /b/ [b] (phoneme)

B (upper case, lower case b, Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒ)

1. The second letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called bi and written in the Latin script.
2. (historical) The second letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called be and written in the Latin script.

B (upper case, lower case b, Baybayin spelling ᜊ)

1. The second letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abakada alphabet), called ba and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) titik; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, Ng ng, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

• “B”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

B (lower case ʙ)

1. (obsolete) A letter of the Unified Northern Alphabet.

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Turkish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin script letters) harf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓe˧˧], [ʔɓe˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˦˩], [ʔɓəː˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
• Phonetic spelling: bê, bê bò, bờ

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The fourth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called bê, bê bò, or bờ and written in the Latin script.

• (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ cái; A a (À à, Ả ả, àã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ),  â (Ầ ầ, Ẩ ẩ, Ẫ ẫ, Ấ ấ, Ậ ậ), B b, C c (Ch ch), D d, Đ đ, E e (È è, Ẻ ẻ, Ẽ ẽ, É é, Ẹ ẹ), Ê ê (Ề ề, Ể ể, Ễ ễ, Ế ế, Ệ ệ), G g (Gh gh, Gi gi), H h, I i (Ì ì, Ỉ ỉ, Ĩ ĩ, Í í, Ị ị), K k (Kh kh), L l, M m, N n (Ng ng, Ngh ngh, Nh nh), O o (Ò ò, Ỏ ỏ, Õ õ, Ó ó, Ọ ọ), Ô ô (Ồ ồ, Ổ ổ, Ỗ ỗ, Ố ố, Ộ ộ), Ơ ơ (Ờ ờ, Ở ở, Ỡ ỡ, Ớ ớ, Ợ ợ), P p (Ph ph), Q q (Qu qu), R r, S s, T t (Th th, Tr tr), U u (Ù ù, Ủ ủ, Ũ ũ, Ú ú, Ụ ụ), Ư ư (Ừ ừ, Ử ử, Ữ ữ, Ứ ứ, Ự ự), V v, X x, Y y (Ỳ ỳ, Ỷ ỷ, Ỹ ỹ, Ý ý, Ỵ ỵ)

• (standard) IPA^(key): /biː/
  • (informal) IPA^(key): /bə/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Welsh alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by A and followed by C.

• B at the beginning of words mutates to F in a soft mutation, to M in a nasal mutation and is unchanged by aspirate mutation, for example with the word Bangor (“Bangor”):

• (Latin-script letters) llythyren; A a (Á á, À à,  â, Ä ä), B b, C c, Ch ch, D d, Dd dd, E e (É é, È è, Ê ê, Ë ë), F f, Ff ff, G g, Ng ng, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Πî, Ï ï), J j, L l, Ll ll, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ô ô, Ö ö), P p, Ph ph, R r, Rh rh, S s, T t, Th th, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Û û, Ü ü), W w (Ẃ ẃ, Ẁ ẁ, Ŵ ŵ, Ẅ ẅ), Y y (Ý ý, Ỳ ỳ, Ŷ ŷ, Ÿ ÿ)

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “B”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /bí/

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called bí and written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) lẹ́tà; A a (Á á, À à, Ā ā), B b, D d, E e (É é, È è, Ē ē), Ẹ ẹ (Ẹ́ ẹ́, Ẹ̀ ẹ̀, Ẹ̄ ẹ̄), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Ī ī), J j, K k, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ō ō), Ọ ọ (Ọ́ ọ́, Ọ̀ ọ̀, Ọ̄ ọ̄), P p, R r, S s, Ṣ ṣ, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Ū ū), W w, Y y
• (Benin) (Latin-script letters) lɛ́tà; A a, B b, D d, E e, Ɛ ɛ, F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i, J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ɔ ɔ, P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, U u, W w, Y y

B (upper case, lower case b)

1. The second letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z