Homophones
Freq #11283
Meanings
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1
adj
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2
adj
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3
adv
- 4
Thesaurus
From Middle English been, beene, bene (“gracious, generous, pleasant”), of unknown origin. Perhaps from Old Norse beinn (“straight, right, favourable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen”), from Proto-Germanic *bainaz (“straight”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, beat”). Cognate with Scots bein, bien (“in good condition, pleasant, well-to-do, cosy, well-stocked, pleasant, keen”), Icelandic beinn (“straight, direct, hospitable”), Norwegian bein (“straight, direct, easy to deal with”). See also bain.