bu

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bu"

Languages (61)

English

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Acehnese • Äiwoo • Amanab • Amasi • Azerbaijani • Bukawa • Crimean Tatar • Dalmatian • Danish • French • Gresi • Guinea-Bissau Creole • Indonesian • Italian • Jabem • Japanese • Kapauri • Kemtuik • Lower Sorbian • Makasar • Malay • Maltese • Mandarin • Mekwei • Middle High German • Mlap • Nga La • Nias • Nimboran • Norman • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old French • Pa • Pangutaran Sama • Pnar • Polish • Portuguese • Romagnol • Romanian • Rukai • Salar • Scottish Gaelic • Sentani • Serbo-Croatian • Spanish • Swedish • Tabla • Talysh • Tarao • Tat • Tedim Chin • Turkish • Upper Sorbian • Uzbek • Vietnamese • Wakhi • Welsh • Woi • Zou

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Page categories

English

Noun

bu

1. Abbreviation of bushel (a unit of weight or dry measure).
2. Clipping of bureau.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Anagrams

• UB

Acehnese

Noun

bu

1. rice
2. food in general

   Ka lheuh pajôh bu?

   Have you eaten yet?

Äiwoo

Noun

bu

1. night

References

• Ross, M. & Næss, Å. (2007) “An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 46, number 2. Cited in: "Äiwoo" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Amanab

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mbu/

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• John R. Roberts, Namia and Amanab Grammar Essentials (1992, SIL)

Amasi

Noun

bú

1. dog (canine)

References

• Africana Marburgensia (1973)

Azerbaijani

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bu(-n) (“this”)^[1] Compare Old Turkic 𐰉𐰆 (b¹u /⁠bu⁠/, “this”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu/

• Audio:

  (file)

Determiner

bu

1. this, these

   Bu uşaqlar məktəbə gedirlər. ― These kids are going to school.

   Mən bu uşağın atası deyiləm. ― I am not the father of this child.

Usage notes

• When used as a determiner modifying nouns, bu is not declined for case and number, as opposed to when it is used as a pronoun (see below).

Pronoun

bu

1. this

   Bunu bura kim gətirib? ― Who brought this here?.

   Ya bunlarla əməkdaşlıq etmək lazımdır, ya onlarla. Hamısı ilə yox.

   We should collaborate either with these or with those. Not with all.

2. he, she

See also

• o (“that”)

References

1. . Starostin, Sergei, Dybo, Anna, Mudrak, Oleg (2003) “*bu(-n)”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill

Bukawa

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• William Eckermann, A Descriptive Grammar of the Bukawa Language of the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea (2007)

Crimean Tatar

Pronoun

bu

1. this

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin bōs, bovem.

Noun

bu m (plural buč)

1. ox

Danish

Verb

bu

1. imperative of bue

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /by/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Homophones: bue, bues, bus, but, bût

Participle

bu (feminine bue, masculine plural bus, feminine plural bues)

1. past participle of boire

   J'ai bu deux verres de vin. - I have drunk two glasses of wine.

   As-tu bu? - Have you been drinking?

Gresi

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 111

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

From Portuguese vós. Cognate with Kabuverdianu bo.

Pronoun

bu

1. you (second person singular).

Indonesian

Etymology

Clipping of ibu.

Noun

bu (plural bu-bu)

1. (slightly informal, between two speakers) mam

Italian

Etymology 1

From Japanese 歩 (bu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbu/
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: bù

Noun

bu m (invariable)

1. a unit of length equal to 1.818 metres (歩)
2. a unit or area equal to 3.306 metres² (歩)

Etymology 2

From Japanese 分 (bu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbu/
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: bù

Noun

bu m (invariable)

1. a tenth (decimal) (分)

Jabem

Noun

bu

1. water

Further reading

• Otto Dempwolff's Grammar of the Jabêm Language in New Guinea (published 2005)

Japanese

Romanization

bu

1. The hiragana syllable ぶ (bu) or the katakana syllable ブ (bu) in Hepburn romanization.

Kapauri

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 115

Kemtuik

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 111

Lower Sorbian

Verb

bu

1. second-person singular passive of byś
2. third-person singular passive of byś

Makasar

Alternative forms

• buwu

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bubu, from Proto-Austronesian *bubu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu/, [ɓu]
• Hyphenation: bu

Noun

bu (Lontara spelling ᨅᨘ)

1. fish trap

Compounds

• bu lompo
• bu saʼrang

Further reading

• A. A. Cense (2024) Makassaars-Nederlands woordenboek‎, Brill, →DOI

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu/

Noun

bu

1. mother

See also

• ibu (full)
• emak

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic أَبُو (ʔabū), construct state of أَب (ʔab, “father”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buː/

Noun

bu m (plural abwa or but, feminine omm)

1. (obsolete) father

   Synonym: missier

Usage notes

• The word had the same syntactic constraints as ħu (“brother”), which compare.
• As in Arabic, the word was often used figuratively to associate a person with some object or activity. Therefore, in the remaining compounds bu typically means “the one with...”, “the one that is...”, “the one who always...”, rather than literally “father”.

Derived terms

• bugħaddas
• bugħarwien
• bumellies
• bumnieħer
• bumunqar
• bunemmiel
• bunittien
• bunixxiefa
• buqarrieq
• buqexrem
• Buttiġieġ

Mandarin

Romanization

bu

1. Nonstandard spelling of bū.
2. Nonstandard spelling of bú.
3. Nonstandard spelling of bǔ.
4. Nonstandard spelling of bù.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mekwei

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 111

Middle High German

Alternative forms

• bou

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German bū, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *būą. From būwen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈbuː/

Noun

bū m or n

1. building

   Dem manne ist baʒ mit bouwe dan er mit swerten houwe ab den vînden ritters prîs.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Declension

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	dër	bū	die	būwe
genitive	eines	dës	būwes	dër	būwe
dative	eime	dëm	būwe	dën	būwen
accusative	einen	dën	bū	die	būwe

Declension of bū (masculine, class 1 strong)

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	daȥ	bū	diu	bū
genitive	eines	dës	būwes	dër	būwe
dative	eime	dëm	būwe	dën	būwen
accusative	ein	daȥ	bū	diu	bū

Declension of bū (neuter, class 1 strong)

Descendants

• German: Bau

References

• "bū" in Köbler, Gerhard, Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch (3rd edition 2014)

Mlap

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 111

Nga La

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ɓuu, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pru(w).

Noun

bu

1. nest

References

• Matu (Chin) Dictionary by Ropna Saruum, Matupi 2007

Nias

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *buhək, from Proto-Austronesian *bukəS.

Noun

bu (mutated form mbu)

1. hair
2. fur
3. feather

References

• Sundermann, Heinrich. 1905. Niassisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Moers: Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, p. 37.

Nimboran

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics), page 110

Norman

Verb

bu

1. past participle of baithe

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʉː/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse búa (“to prepare, finish, make preparations, equip”), from Proto-Germanic *būaną. Cognate with Old English būan, English buwa, Old Saxon būan and Old High German būan (whence German bauen).

Verb

bu (present tense bur, past tense budde, past participle butt/budd, passive infinitive buast, present participle buande, imperative bu)

1. (intransitive) to live (have permanent residence), stay
2. (intransitive) to be, to dwell, to be in
3. (transitive) to prepare

Derived terms

• -bu
• buar
• bubil
• budd
• buen
• bufellesskap
• buing
• bukollektiv
• bumiljø
• bunad
• buplass
• buplikt
• buutgift
• førebu
• hærbu
• seglbu
• vernebu

Etymology 2

From Old Norse bú n, from Proto-Germanic *būą n (“building, dwelling”).

Noun

bu n (definite singular buet, indefinite plural bu, definite plural bua)

1. an estate, belongings

Derived terms

• akkordbu
• budeie
• budrått
• bufar
• bufast
• bufe
• buferd
• buføre
• buhund
• bumann
• bumerke
• buorm
• bureisar
• bureising
• burot
• busetja
• busetnad
• busetta
• bustad
• bustein
• butare
• dødsbu
• fallittbu
• konkursbu
• sambu
• setja bu
• setta bu

Related terms

• bu (verb)
• byggja, byggje, bygga, bygge (verb)

Etymology 3

From Old Norse búð, from Proto-Germanic *bōþō. Akin to English booth.

Alternative forms

• bud (non-standard since 1917)

Noun

bu f (definite singular bua, indefinite plural buer, definite plural buene)

2. booth, stall, small storage room or building
3. (rare) a shop or a workshop

Declension

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bu	bua	buer	buene
compound-genitive	―	―	―	―

  Declension of bu (strong ō-stem)

Derived terms

• brorbu
• fiskarbu
• fiskebu
• fjølbu
• fjølebu
• handelsbu
• høybu
• kakebu
• kjellarbu
• krambu
• kvilebu
• loftbu
• loftsbu
• matbu
• pakkbu
• pølsebu
• reiskapsbu
• sengbu
• sengebu
• seterbu
• sjøbu
• stolpebu
• stølsbu
• tollbu
• vaktbu
• vedbu
• veidebu

Etymology 4

From English boo.

Interjection

bu

1. boo! Used to indicate derision or disapproval.

Derived terms

• bua, bue (verb)

References

• “bu” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• -bu, ub.

Old English

Determiner

bū

1. neuter nominative/accusative singular of beġen

Old French

Noun

bu oblique singular, m (oblique plural bus, nominative singular bus, nominative plural bu)

1. chest; thorax

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (bu)

Pa

Noun

bu

1. (woman's) breast

References

• transnewguinea.org, citing McElhanon and Voorhoeve (1970), Shaw (1973) and Shaw (1986)
• Possible Cognates Between Kamula and Pa, chart 10, page 16, in Papers in New Guinea Linguistics, issues 17-20 (1990)

Pangutaran Sama

Noun

bu

1. fur

Pnar

Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *buː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *ʔbuuʔ; related to ymbu (“breast”). Cognate with Khmer បៅ (baw), Old Mon 'bow (whence modern Mon မဴ), Vietnamese bú.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu/

Verb

bu

1. to suck, to suckle

Polish

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbu/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: bu

Interjection

bu

1. an onomatopoeic interjection imitating the sound of crying, usually written with two or more 'u's

Further reading

• bu in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbu/

Interjection

bu!

1. boo (loud exclamation intended to scare someone)

Romagnol

Verb

bu

1. past participle of avér (“to have”)

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bu

1. sound made by an ox
2. hoot; sound made by an owl

Rukai

Noun

bu

1. bow (weapon for shooting arrows)

Salar

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bu(-n).

Noun

bu (3rd person possessive [please provide], plural [please provide])

1. this

References

Ma, Chengjun, Han, Lianye, Ma, Weisheng (December 2010) “bu”, in 米娜瓦尔 艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, 撒维汉词典 (Sāwéihàncídiǎn) [Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN

Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pu/, /pə/
• Hyphenation: bu

Verb

bu

1. past/conditional of is

Usage notes

• Before a word beginning with a vowel or fh, the form b' is used.

References

• Colin Mark (2003) “bu”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 96

Sentani

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• H. K. J. Cowan, Grammar of the Sentani Language (1965, ’s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff)

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

bu (Cyrillic spelling бу)

1. (Kajkavian) third-person singular future of biti

Spanish

Interjection

bu

1. boo!

Further reading

• “bu”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʉː/
• Rhymes: -ʉː

Interjection

bu

1. boo; a loud exclamation intended to scare someone, usually a child.

   Bu! Blev du rädd?

   Boo! Were you scared?

2. boo; an exclamation used to indicate derision or disapproval of what has just occurred.

Derived terms

• bua
• säga varken bu eller bä (“say neither this nor that (not express an opinion)”)

References

• bu in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bu in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bu in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tabla

Noun

bu

1. water

References

• Kenneth Gregerson, Margaret Hartzler, Towards a Reconstruction of Proto-Tabla-Sentani Phonology, Oceanic Linguistics, volume 26, numéro 1/2, 1987, pages 1-29, page 7

Talysh

Etymology

Cognate with Persian بو (bu).

Noun

bu

1. smell

Tarao

Noun

bu

1. rice

Derived terms

• bular (“famine”)

References

• Chungkham Yashwanta Singh (2002) Tarao Grammar (in Tarao)

Tat

Etymology

Cognate with Persian بو (bu).

Noun

bu

1. smell

Tedim Chin

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ɓuu, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pru(w).

Noun

bu

1. nest

References

• Zomi Ordbog based on the work of D.L. Haokip

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بو (bu, “this”), from Old Anatolian Turkish [script needed] (bu, “this”), from Proto-Turkic *bu(-n) (“this”). Compare Old Turkic 𐰉𐰆 (b¹u /⁠bu⁠/, “this”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu/

• Audio:

  (file)

Pronoun

bu

1. this

   Bu bir ev. ― This is a house.

   Bunu sevmedim. ― I did not like this.

   Bunlar benim kitaplarım. ― These are my books.

Declension

Declension of bu

	singular	plural
nominative	bu	bunlar
definite accusative	bunu	bunları
dative	buna	bunlara
locative	bunda	bunlarda
ablative	bundan	bunlardan
genitive	bunun	bunların

Determiner

bu

1. this

   Bu kitaplar benim. ― These books are mine.

Derived terms

• bugün
• bunca
• bunlu
• bunsuz

See also

• şu
• o

Upper Sorbian

Verb

bu

1. second/third-person singular passive of być

Uzbek

Other scripts
Yangi Imlo
Cyrillic	бу‍
Latin	‍
Perso-Arabic (Afghanistan)

Etymology

Inherited from Chagatai بو (bū /⁠bu⁠/, “this”), from Proto-Turkic *bu (“this”). Cognate with Uyghur بۇ / bu / бу; Turkish bu, etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʊ/, [bʊ]
• Hyphenation: bu

Pronoun

bu (plural bular)

1. this (demonstrative pronoun used to indicate a thing in the immediate vicinity of the speaker)

   Antonym: u

Determiner

bu

1. this

   Antonym: u

   Bu sahifada hozircha hech qanday matn yoʻq.

   There is currently no text in this page. /This page currently has no text.

Derived terms

• bugun (“today”)

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓu˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓʊw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓʊw˧˧]

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

(classifier cái) bu • (𥮉)

1. kind of chicken coop

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bu • (𡜵, 哺, 󰊿)

1. (uncommon, rustic Northern Vietnam) mom; mother
   • 1925, Nguyễn Lân, Cậu bé nhà Quê, page 21:

     Bỗng đâu thấy có tiếng trẻ vừa khóc vừa gọi ầm ỹ: «Bu ơi !, bu ơi !, bu dậy đi !, bu ơi !, khổ quá giời ơi !! làm sao bu tôi không thưa thế này, bu ơi !»

     Suddenly there was a loud child's wail: "Mom! Please wake up! Mom! Oh god! Why aren't you answering me mom!"

See also

• mẹ, mạ, mệ, má, bầm

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

• (Northern Vietnam) bâu (dipthongized)

Verb

bu • (咆, 蚫)

1. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) to assemble, to gather into one place

Derived terms

• ruồi bu kiến đậu

Wakhi

Etymology

From *dvu, related to Tajik ду (du).

Numeral

bu

1. two

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /bɨː/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /biː/

Verb

bu

1. third-person singular preterite of bod

Mutation

Mutated forms of bu

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
bu	fu	mu	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Woi

Noun

bu

1. knee

Zou

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu˧/

Verb

bu

1. (transitive) to hide

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu˧˥/

Noun

bú

1. nest
2. cottage, hut

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu˧˩/

Noun

bù

1. cooked rice

References

• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 62