be

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to spend or use time

   I may be an hour, are you sure you want to wait in the car?

2. 2
   verb

   to work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function

   I am a technician.

3. 3
   verb

   to have an existence, be extant

   I questioned whether Hamlet should be.

4. 4
   verb

   to be identical to

   They are football fans.

5. 5
   verb

   to represent, as of a character on stage

   I'll be the cop if you are the robber.

6. 6
   verb

   to be priced at

   That is $10.00.

7. 7
   verb

   to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form

   I wish you'd just let me be.

8. 8
   verb

   As an auxiliary verb:

   The dog was saved by the boy.

Etymology

From Middle English been (“to be”). See below for more. Further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English. * The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-. In particular: ** Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from Middle English been (“to be”) or an extension of t…