bean

A2 Topic:Plants & Agriculture

US /ˈbi(ː)n/ See IPA manual

Homophones

bein /biːn/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like been /ɪ/ vs /iː/ Sounds like bin /ɪ/ vs /iː/

Freq #5761

Meanings

1

noun
A seed or seedpod from certain plants, eaten as a vegetable.

We had rice and beans for dinner.
2

noun
A seed used to make coffee or chocolate.

The shop grinds fresh coffee beans every morning.
3

verb
To hit someone on the head, especially with a thrown ball.

The pitcher accidentally beaned the batter with a fast ball.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms beans

Derived forms asparagus-beanbansteadbasebeanbean-bagbean-bellybean-brushbean-butterbean-cakebean-caperbean-codbean-counterbean-crake

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

bean sprout
a young shoot from a germinating bean, used as food

Noun + noun
castor bean
the poisonous seed of the plant from which castor oil is obtained

Noun + noun
locust bean
A carob pod containing seeds and sweet pulp used in food or animal feed.

Noun + noun
velvet bean
a climbing legume with hairy pods, grown as a cover crop or animal forage

Noun + noun

Idioms (2)

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Simplified etymology

Bean has been part of English since Old English. In Anglo-Saxon times it would chiefly have referred to varieties of the broad bean, one of the staple crops of early agriculture.

Etymology

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), North Frisian buan (“bean”), Saterland Frisian Boone (“bean”), West Frisian bean, beanne (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”), Luxembourgish Boun (“bean”), Danish bønne (“bean”), Faroese bøn, bøna (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Norwegian Bokmål bønne (“bean”), Norwegian Nynorsk bauna, baune, bogna, bønne, Swedish böna (“bean”), Irish pónaire (“bean”), Manx poanrey (“bean”), S…

bene Middle English bēan Old English *baunu Proto-West Germanic *baunō Proto-Germanic *bʰabʰ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Plants & Agriculture

External links

# bean

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈbi(ː)n/
**Frequency rank:** 5761

## Meanings
1. A seed or seedpod from certain plants, eaten as a vegetable.
2. A seed used to make coffee or chocolate.
3. To hit someone on the head, especially with a thrown ball.

## Examples
- We had rice and beans for dinner.
- The shop grinds fresh coffee beans every morning.
- The pitcher accidentally beaned the batter with a fast ball.

## Derived Forms
- asparagus-bean
- banstead
- basebean
- bean-bag
- bean-belly
- bean-brush
- bean-butter
- bean-cake
- bean-caper
- bean-cod
- bean-counter
- bean-crake

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bene
- Root: bēan
- Root: *baunu
- Root: *baunō
- Root: *bʰabʰ-

## Etymology
From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), North Frisian buan (“bean”), Saterland Frisian Boone (“bean”), West Frisian bean, beanne (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”), Luxembourgish Boun (“bean”), Danish bønne (“bean”), Faroese bøn, bøna (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Norwegian Bokmål bønne (“bean”), Norwegian Nynorsk bauna, baune, bogna, bønne, Swedish böna (“bean”), Irish pónaire (“bean”), Manx poanrey (“bean”), S…

## AI Etymology
Bean comes from Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”).

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture

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