bee - What does it mean?
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Definition of 'bee'English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) bee, from (etyl) ).
Noun
( s)
A flying insect, of the superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies and for collecting pollen and producing wax and honey.
*1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Courte :
*:His face was belymmed as byes had him stounge.
*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.12:
- An angry Wasp th'one in a viall had, / Th'other in hers an hony-laden Bee .
*, II.12:
*:Can there be a more formall, and better ordered policie, divided into so severall charges and offices, more constantly entertained, and better maintained, than that of Bees ?
*2012 , ‘Subtle poison’, The Economist , 31 March:
*:Bees pollinate many of the world’s crops—a service estimated to be worth $15 billion a year in America alone.
Derived terms
* bee-eater
* beekeeper
* beehive
* beehouse
* beeline
* beeswax
* bee's knees
* bumblebee
( rel-mid)
* honeybee
* carpenter bee
* have a bee in your bonnet
* put the bee on
* queen bee
* stingless bee
* sting like a bee
* worker bee
( rel-bottom)
Synonyms
*
See also
( top2)
* apian
* apiarian
* apiarist
* apiary
* apimania
*
*
( mid2)
* drone
* dumbledore
* hornet
* honey
* imbe
* pollinator
* wasp
( bottom)
Etymology 2
Possibly from dialectal (etyl) bene, been, .
Noun
( en-noun)
A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee.
- geography bee
A gathering for a specific purpose, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee.
* S. G. Goodrich
- The cellar was dug by a bee in a single day.
* 2011 , Tim Blanning, "The reinvention of the night", Times Literary Supplement , 21 Sep 2011:
- Particularly resistant, for example, in many parts of northern Europe was the “spinning bee ”, a nocturnal gathering of women to exchange gossip, stories, refreshment and – crucially – light and heat, as they spun wool or flax, knitted or sewed.
Etymology 3
(Northern development of) (etyl) .
Noun
( en-noun)
(obsolete) A ring or torque; a bracelet.
* 1485 , Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur , Book VII:
- And Kynge Arthure gaff hir a ryche bye of golde; and so she departed.
* 1658 , Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial , Penguin 2005, page 16:
- ...restoring unto the world much gold richly adorning his Sword, two hundred Rubies, many hundred Imperial Coynes, three hundred golden Bees , the bones and horseshoe of his horse enterred with him...
Etymology 4
Variant spellings.
Verb
( head)
* 1604 Reverend Cawdrey Table Aleph
- held that a ‘Nicholaitan is an heretike, like Nicholas, who held that wiues should bee common to all alike.’
(obsolete) ; been
- (Spenser)
Etymology 5
See also
*
Etymology 6
Probably from an (etyl) word meaning "ring". See bow.
Noun
( en-noun)
Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through.
Synonyms
* bee block
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