be Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element
    atomic number 4; glucinium; beryllium.
  2. verb have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
    • John is rich
    • This is not a good answer
  3. verb be identical to; be someone or something
    • The president of the company is John Smith
    • This is my house
  4. verb occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
    • Where is my umbrella?" "The toolshed is in the back
    • What is behind this behavior?
  5. verb have an existence, be extant
    exist.
    • Is there a God?
  6. verb happen, occur, take place; this was during the visit to my parents' house"
    • I lost my wallet
    • There were two hundred people at his funeral
    • There was a lot of noise in the kitchen
  7. verb be identical or equivalent to
    equal.
    • One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!
  8. verb form or compose
    constitute; represent; comprise; make up.
    • This money is my only income
    • The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance
    • These constitute my entire belonging
    • The children made up the chorus
    • This sum represents my entire income for a year
    • These few men comprise his entire army
  9. verb work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
    follow.
    • He is a herpetologist
    • She is our resident philosopher
  10. verb represent, as of a character on stage
    embody; personify.
    • Derek Jacobi was Hamlet
  11. verb spend or use time
    • I may be an hour
  12. verb have life, be alive
    live.
    • Our great leader is no more
    • My grandfather lived until the end of war
  13. verb to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form
    • let her be
  14. verb be priced at
    cost.
    • These shoes cost $100

WordNet

Be intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. been, beon, AS. beón to be, beóm I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. bu-ti, O. Slav. by-ti, to be, L. fu-i I have been, fu-turus about to be, fo-re to be about to be, and perh to fieri to become, Gr. to be born, to be, Skr. bh to be. This verb is defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are considered grammatically as parts of the verb "to be", which, with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive verb. 97. Cf. Future, Physic.
Wordforms
imperfect Was ; past participle Been ; present participle & verbal noun Being
Definitions
  1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have exstence.
    To be contents his natural desire. Pope.
    To be, or not to be: that is the question. Shak.
  2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man.
  3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday.
  4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.
    The field is the world. Matt. xiii. 38.
    The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Rev. i. 20.
    ✍ The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as, John has been struck by James. It is also used with the past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a state of the subject. But have is now more commonly used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different sense; as, "Ye have come too late -- but ye are come. " "The minstrel boy to the war is gone." The present and imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a particular future tense, which expresses necessity, duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed to-morrow. Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. "I have been to Paris." Sydney Smith. "Have you been to Franchard ?" R. L. Stevenson. ✍ Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the indicative present. "Ye ben light of the world." Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in our Bible: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." 2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the old infinitive: "To ben of such power." R. of Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present subjunctive: "But if it be a question of words and names." Acts xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is and are, with if, are more commonly used. Spenser. Syn. -- To be, Exist. The verb to be, except in a few rare case, like that of Shakespeare's "To be, or not to be", is used simply as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate; as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. The verb to exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but points to things that stand forth, or have a substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. It is not, therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers for the sake of variety; as in the phrase "there exists [is] no reason for laying new taxes." We may, indeed, say, "a friendship has long existed between them," instead of saying, "there has long been a friendship between them;" but in this case, exist is not a mere copula. It is used in its appropriate sense to mark the friendship as having been long in existence.
Be*
Etymology
AS. be, and in accented form bi, akin to OS. be and bi, OHG. bi, pi, and pi, MHG. be and bi, G. be and bei, Goth. bi, and perh. Gr. about (cf. AS. beseón to look about). 203. Gr. By, Amb-.
Definitions
  1. A prefix, originally the same word as by; joined with verbs, it serves: (a) To intensify the meaning; as, bespatter, bestir. (b) To render an intransitive verb transitive; as, befall (to fall upon); bespeak (to speak for). (c) To make the action of a verb particular or definite; as, beget (to get as offspring); beset (to set around). It is joined with certain substantives, and a few adjectives, to form verbs; as, bedew, befriend, benight, besot; belate (to make late); belittle (to make little). It also occurs in certain nouns, adverbs, and prepositions, often with something of the force of the preposition by, or about; as, belief (believe), behalf, bequest (bequeath); because, before, beneath, beside, between. In some words the original force of be is obscured or lost; as, in become, begin, behave, behoove, belong.

Webster 1913