bi-

• bin- (before some vowel-initial roots)

Borrowed from Latin bi-, from Proto-Italic *dwi-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwi-. Doublet of twi-

• IPA^(key): /baɪ-/, (rare) /bɪ-/

bi-

1. two, paired, both

   Synonyms: di-, duo-

2. (chemistry, proscribed) half
3. (before a vowel) bio-

In an old, common method used to indicate the presence of an acidic hydrogen, sodium hydrogen sulfate is called "sodium bisulfate" and sodium hydrogen carbonate is called "sodium bicarbonate". This method is not recommended by IUPAC and does not denote a “doubling up” of a specific group, which is reserved for the Greek prefix di-, as in carbon dioxide (“CO₂”).

The prefix bi in the older system comes from the observation that there is two times as much carbonate (CO₃) in sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) and other bicarbonates as in sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) and other carbonates.

As a prefix for periods, bi- is ambiguously used to mean either “once every two periods” or “twice every period”; this is particularly acute for biweekly, bimonthly, and biannual. To avoid ambiguity, semi- or twice can be used to unambiguously mean “every half period” (thus twice every period) or “twice every period”, but there is no general way to refer unambiguously to “once every two periods”. In some cases a separate word is unambiguous, as in fortnightly (“every two weeks”), or biennial (“every two years”), but there is no word that unambiguously refers to “every two months”. Due to the ambiguity, some prefer to use explicit phrases, like “every two months” or “twice a month”.

• di-
• duo-

• IB, ib.

From Persian بی‎ (bi).

IPA^(key): [bi]

bi-

1. (rarely productive) -less, un-, in-.

   Synonym: -siz

From Latin bis.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian) [bi]

bi-

1. bi-

• “bi-” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “bi-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “bi-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Borrowed from Latin bis.

• IPA^(key): [bɪ ]

bi-

1. bi-

• bi- in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥i]

From German bei- (“by-”).

bi-

1. by-, side-

   Synonym: side-

From Latin bis (“twice”).

bi-

1. bi-

   Synonyms: di-, tve-, dobbelt-

Internationalism (see English bi-), ultimately from Latin bis.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi-/, [ˈbi-]

bi-

1. bi- (double, twin)

   Synonyms: see kaksois-

From Latin bis (“twice”).

• IPA^(key): /bi/

• Audio

  (file)

bi-

1. bi-

From Latin bis.

bi-

1. bi-

   Synonyms: bi-, duo-

From

.

• “bi-” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

From Latin bis (“twice”).

• Audio

  (file)

bi-

1. bi-

bi-

1. Romanization of 𐌱𐌹-

bi-

1. bi-

From Dutch bi-, from Latin bi-.

• IPA^(key): [bi]
• Hyphenation: bi

bi-

1. bi-: two, pair, both.

• “bi-” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

bi-

1. Alternative form of bith-, used before a slender T.

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “bit-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

From Latin bis (“twice”).

• IPA^(key): /bi/
• Hyphenation: bi-

bi-

1. bi-
2. di-

From Proto-Italic *dwi-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwi- (“two-; twice-”), prefix form corresponding to the numeral *dwóh₁ (“two”); the origin in PIE of the *i here is uncertain.[1].

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /bi/, [bɪ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /bi/, [biː]

bi-

1. having two parts
2. occurring twice

• “bi-”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “bi-” on page 231/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Inherited from Old English be-, from Proto-West Germanic *bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-, from *bi-; compare by-.

The pronunciation /bi-/ (instead of expected /bə-/) is probably due to the influence of the preposition by.

• be-, by-
• b- (in certain words)

• IPA^(key): /bi-/

bi-

1. A prefix forming transitive verbs from any content word, often denoting completion or thoroughness.
2. A prefix forming prepositions, often denoting adjacency, position, or relation.

• English: be-
• Scots: be-

• “bi-, pref.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “bi-, pref.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

bi-

1. Alternative form of by-

bi-

1. his, her, its, their

This prefix often corresponds to an English possessive ’s appended to the preceding word. For example, Diné bizaad means literally “the People their-language”, equivalent to “the People’s language” (i.e., Navajo language).

• á-
• ał-
• ahił-

bi-

1. forms the affirmative subjunctive mood of verbs.

bi-

1. by-, by, side
2. bi-

• “bi-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

bi-

1. by-, by, side
2. bi-

• “bi-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

bi-

1. this way, here, hither (toward the speaker)

   Bi-anokiin.

   Come and work.

• biid-

• ani-
• omaa

• The Ojibwe People's Dictionary https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/bi-pv-dir

• biġ-, be-

From bī (“by, near, around”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiː/

bī-

1. near, around (compare Latin para-)

   ‎bi- + ‎nama → ‎bīnama (“pronoun”)

   ‎bi- + ‎word → ‎bīword (“proverb, byword”)

• Occurred primarily in nouns.

• bīgenga (“inhabitant; observer; benefactor”)
• bīleofa (“support, sustenance, nourishment, capital”)
• bīswæc (“treachery”)

• Middle English: by-, bi-
  • English: by-, be-
  • Scots: by-, be-

An unstressed form of bī, from Proto-West Germanic *bī-.

bi-

1. A productive prefix usually used to form verbs and adjectives, especially verbs with the sense “around, throughout” or makes transitive verbs from intransitive verbs, adjectives and nouns.

   ‎bi- + ‎brekan → ‎bibrekan (“to break”)

   ‎bi- + ‎brengian → ‎bibrengian (“to accomplish”)

   ‎bi- + ‎dēlian → ‎bidēlian (“to deprive”)

   ‎bi- + ‎delvan → ‎bidelvan (“to bury”)

   ‎bi- + ‎dempian → ‎bidempian (“to suffocate”)

   ‎bi- + ‎dernian → ‎bidernian (“to conceal, to hide”)

   ‎bi- + ‎dōdian → ‎bidōdian (“to kill”)

   ‎bi- + ‎driogan → ‎bidriogan (“to deceive”)

   ‎bi- + ‎drōragon → ‎bidrōragon (“to bleed to death”)

   ‎bi- + ‎dumbilian → ‎bidumbilian (“to make a fool”)

   ‎bi- + ‎*dwellian → ‎bidwellian (“to hinder”)

   ‎bi- + ‎fāhan → ‎bifāhan (“to embrace, seize”)

   ‎bi- + ‎fallan → ‎bifallan (“to befall”)

   ‎bi- + ‎felhan → ‎bifelhan (“to recommend, give over, confide”)

   ‎bi- + ‎fellian → ‎bifellian (“to throw down”)

   ‎bi- + ‎findan → ‎bifindan (“to notice, find out”)

   ‎bi- + ‎gangan → ‎bigān, bigangan (“to celebrate”)

   ‎bi- + ‎gehan → ‎bigehan (“to dare, confess”)

• be-

From bī (“by, near, around”).

bī-

1. prefix meaning near, around (compare Latin para-), occurring primarily in nouns

   ‎bi- + ‎word → ‎bīword (“proverb, byword”)

• bīgengio (“inhabitant”)

From Latin bis.

• IPA^(key): /bi/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: bi

bi-

1. bi-, two

   Synonyms: dwu-, di-, dy-

   ‎bi- + ‎-gamia → ‎bigamia

• bi- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from Latin bis.

bi-

1. bi- (two-)

• bis-, biz-

From Latin bis (“twice”).

bi-

1. bi-

   Synonyms: di-, duo-

• “bi-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

• IPA^(key): /bi/, [ˈb̥i]

bi-

1. by-, next to, near, by the side, aside; same as English by- and German bei-; see also the rare preposition bi
2. bi-, two, dual; from Latin bis (“twice”)

• (before vowels) by-

From Proto-Bantu *bí-.

• IPA^(key): /βi-/

bi-

1. class 8 pronominal concord

   ‎bi- + ‎-nu (“this, these”) → ‎binu (“these (class 8)”)

2. they; class 8 subject concord

   ‎bi- + ‎-kora (“to do”) → ‎bikora (“they (class 8) do”)

3. positive imperative form of -bi- (“them; class 8 object concord”)

   ‎bi- + ‎-ha (“to give”) → ‎biha (“give them (class 8)”)

• Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎ (in English), Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 414

Borrowed from Persian بی‎ (bi).

bi-

1. (obsolete, unproductive) -less, un-, in-.

   Synonym: -siz