buy
[baɪ]
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.32 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Who'd Father buy the car for? He bought it for me, not for you."
- "Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries."
- "I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams."
- "You just bought yourself an assault charge!"
- "Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."
- "VVhat villaine, doſt ſtrike me? I ſweare by the rood, As I am Iacke Strawe, thou ſhalt buy it with thy blood."
Etymology
From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”). Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to build, settle”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [baɪ]
- British English: [baɪ]
Usage
Inflected Forms
buys (present, singular)
buying (participle, present)
bought (past)
bought (participle, past)
boughten (archaic, dialectal)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
bought (first person, past)
buyest (archaic, present)
bought (past, second person)
boughtest (archaic, past)
buyeth (archaic, present)