been

verb
/bɪn//biːn/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Germanic *ga- Proto-West Germanic *ga- Old English ġe- Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰuHyétider.? Proto-Germanic *beuną Proto-West Germanic *beun Old English bēon Old English ġebēon Middle English been English been From Middle English been (past participle), from Old English (ġe)bēon. By surface analysis, be + -en.

  1. inherited from bēon
  2. inherited from been

Definitions

  1. past participle of be.

    • All the fries have been eaten.
    • We're safe, but the car's been totaled.
    • Postman been?
  2. remote past form of be.

    • He been had that job.
    • We been knew they was doing this.
  3. Synonym of be (infinitival sense).

    • It useta been five foot long.
    • "Bones", says he, "I tink dey's a-goin' to been a war ober de Alabamy question[…]
    • Yur a boald 'un to tell the missus theer to hur feeace as how ya wur 'tossicatit whan ya owt to been duing yur larful business.
  4. + 2 more definitions
    1. plural simple present of be.

      • My love is fair, my love is gay, / As fresh as been the flowers in May;
      • Theſe Beaſtes been of higheſt Regard and Price / To pleaſure Princes and to murder vice.
      • Where when men been, there's ſeldome eaſe,
    2. plural of bee

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for been. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA