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beige

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Beige and bēigé

English

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (color of undyed wool or cotton), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (dull grey)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (cottony grey) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (cotton), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, cotton homespun), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbeɪʒ/, /ˈbeɪd͡ʒ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪʒ, -eɪdʒ

Noun

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beige (countable and uncountable, plural beiges)

  1. A slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
    beige:  
  2. Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods.

Translations

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Adjective

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beige (comparative beiger or more beige, superlative beigest or most beige)

  1. Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.
    Synonyms: bland, indistinct, colorless, drab
    • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 24, in Crime out of Mind[1]:
      Dagobert had only one customer, an American who wore square, rimless glasses and a beige suit and looked like a Wall Street tycoon.
    • 2006 November 23, Michel Marriott, “When Beige Won’t Do”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN:
      Mr. Lauwaert of Sony said he realized that most consumers were not going to buy computers that cost far more than discount beige boxes.
  2. (informal, originally US) Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.
    Synonyms: bland, tedious
    • 2007, Prairie L. Markussen, Cover, page 48:
      Think about it: he grew up in Iowa, the beigest of states, was doted on, loved generously by his parents, the top of his class, probably voted Most Handsome of 2000.
    • 2010, Gerald J. McCarthy, A Man of Substances:
      In the beigest parts of suburbia where I grew up, bridge was a game played by groups of parents in recreation rooms furnished with upright pianos and souvenir sombreros.
    • 2013 March 25, Eric Asimov, “A Beige Wine for a Beige Meal”, in NYT Diner’s Journal Blog[3]:
      For a meal of relentlessly beige food, may I suggest the beigest of wines? That would be chardonnay, which will go beautifully with Melissa Clark’s chicken potpie.
    • 2016, Penelope Garcia, “The Witness”, in Criminal Minds, season 11, episode 2:
      He has no criminal record. He has no traffic tickets. His social media posts are just like... he's beige.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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From Dutch beige, from French beige.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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beige (attributive beige, comparative beiger, superlative beigeste)

  1. beige

Dutch

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from French beige, from Middle French beige, from Old French bege.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbɛːʒə/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: bei‧ge

Adjective

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beige (comparative beiger, superlative meest beige or beigest)

  1. beige

Declension

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Declension of beige
uninflected beige
inflected beige
comparative beiger
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial beige beiger het beigest
het beigeste
indefinite m./f. sing. beige beigere beigeste
n. sing. beige beiger beigeste
plural beige beigere beigeste
definite beige beigere beigeste
partitive beiges beigers

Derived terms

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Finnish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from French beige.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbei̯ɡe/, [ˈbe̞i̯ɡe̞]
  • IPA(key): /ˈbeːʒi/, [ˈbe̞ːʒi]
  • Rhymes: -eiɡe
  • Hyphenation(key): bei‧ge

Adjective

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beige (comparative beigempi, superlative beigein)

  1. beige

Declension

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Inflection of beige (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative beige beiget
genitive beigen beigejen
partitive beigeä beigejä
illative beigeen beigeihin
singular plural
nominative beige beiget
accusative nom. beige beiget
gen. beigen
genitive beigen beigejen
beigein rare
partitive beigeä beigejä
inessive beigessä beigeissä
elative beigestä beigeistä
illative beigeen beigeihin
adessive beigellä beigeillä
ablative beigeltä beigeiltä
allative beigelle beigeille
essive beigenä beigeinä
translative beigeksi beigeiksi
abessive beigettä beigeittä
instructive beigein
comitative beigeine
Possessive forms of beige (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
Rare. Only used with substantive adjectives.
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative beigeni beigeni
accusative nom. beigeni beigeni
gen. beigeni
genitive beigeni beigejeni
beigeini rare
partitive beigeäni beigejäni
inessive beigessäni beigeissäni
elative beigestäni beigeistäni
illative beigeeni beigeihini
adessive beigelläni beigeilläni
ablative beigeltäni beigeiltäni
allative beigelleni beigeilleni
essive beigenäni beigeinäni
translative beigekseni beigeikseni
abessive beigettäni beigeittäni
instructive
comitative beigeineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative beigesi beigesi
accusative nom. beigesi beigesi
gen. beigesi
genitive beigesi beigejesi
beigeisi rare
partitive beigeäsi beigejäsi
inessive beigessäsi beigeissäsi
elative beigestäsi beigeistäsi
illative beigeesi beigeihisi
adessive beigelläsi beigeilläsi
ablative beigeltäsi beigeiltäsi
allative beigellesi beigeillesi
essive beigenäsi beigeinäsi
translative beigeksesi beigeiksesi
abessive beigettäsi beigeittäsi
instructive
comitative beigeinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative beigemme beigemme
accusative nom. beigemme beigemme
gen. beigemme
genitive beigemme beigejemme
beigeimme rare
partitive beigeämme beigejämme
inessive beigessämme beigeissämme
elative beigestämme beigeistämme
illative beigeemme beigeihimme
adessive beigellämme beigeillämme
ablative beigeltämme beigeiltämme
allative beigellemme beigeillemme
essive beigenämme beigeinämme
translative beigeksemme beigeiksemme
abessive beigettämme beigeittämme
instructive
comitative beigeinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative beigenne beigenne
accusative nom. beigenne beigenne
gen. beigenne
genitive beigenne beigejenne
beigeinne rare
partitive beigeänne beigejänne
inessive beigessänne beigeissänne
elative beigestänne beigeistänne
illative beigeenne beigeihinne
adessive beigellänne beigeillänne
ablative beigeltänne beigeiltänne
allative beigellenne beigeillenne
essive beigenänne beigeinänne
translative beigeksenne beigeiksenne
abessive beigettänne beigeittänne
instructive
comitative beigeinenne

Noun

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beige

  1. beige (color)

Declension

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Inflection of beige (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
nominative beige beiget
genitive beigen beigejen
partitive beigeä beigejä
illative beigeen beigeihin
singular plural
nominative beige beiget
accusative nom. beige beiget
gen. beigen
genitive beigen beigejen
beigein rare
partitive beigeä beigejä
inessive beigessä beigeissä
elative beigestä beigeistä
illative beigeen beigeihin
adessive beigellä beigeillä
ablative beigeltä beigeiltä
allative beigelle beigeille
essive beigenä beigeinä
translative beigeksi beigeiksi
abessive beigettä beigeittä
instructive beigein
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of beige (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative beigeni beigeni
accusative nom. beigeni beigeni
gen. beigeni
genitive beigeni beigejeni
beigeini rare
partitive beigeäni beigejäni
inessive beigessäni beigeissäni
elative beigestäni beigeistäni
illative beigeeni beigeihini
adessive beigelläni beigeilläni
ablative beigeltäni beigeiltäni
allative beigelleni beigeilleni
essive beigenäni beigeinäni
translative beigekseni beigeikseni
abessive beigettäni beigeittäni
instructive
comitative beigeineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative beigesi beigesi
accusative nom. beigesi beigesi
gen. beigesi
genitive beigesi beigejesi
beigeisi rare
partitive beigeäsi beigejäsi
inessive beigessäsi beigeissäsi
elative beigestäsi beigeistäsi
illative beigeesi beigeihisi
adessive beigelläsi beigeilläsi
ablative beigeltäsi beigeiltäsi
allative beigellesi beigeillesi
essive beigenäsi beigeinäsi
translative beigeksesi beigeiksesi
abessive beigettäsi beigeittäsi
instructive
comitative beigeinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative beigemme beigemme
accusative nom. beigemme beigemme
gen. beigemme
genitive beigemme beigejemme
beigeimme rare
partitive beigeämme beigejämme
inessive beigessämme beigeissämme
elative beigestämme beigeistämme
illative beigeemme beigeihimme
adessive beigellämme beigeillämme
ablative beigeltämme beigeiltämme
allative beigellemme beigeillemme
essive beigenämme beigeinämme
translative beigeksemme beigeiksemme
abessive beigettämme beigeittämme
instructive
comitative beigeinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative beigenne beigenne
accusative nom. beigenne beigenne
gen. beigenne
genitive beigenne beigejenne
beigeinne rare
partitive beigeänne beigejänne
inessive beigessänne beigeissänne
elative beigestänne beigeistänne
illative beigeenne beigeihinne
adessive beigellänne beigeillänne
ablative beigeltänne beigeiltänne
allative beigellenne beigeillenne
essive beigenänne beigeinänne
translative beigeksenne beigeiksenne
abessive beigettänne beigeittänne
instructive
comitative beigeinenne

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French bege.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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beige (plural beiges)

  1. beige

Descendants

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Further reading

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German

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Etymology 1

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Unadapted borrowing from French beige.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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beige (strong nominative masculine singular beiger, not comparable)

  1. beige
Usage notes
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Beige is inflected like a regular adjective in pronunciation. However, since its basic form is written with a mute -e, the inflectional ending -e is not visible in writing: das beige [beːʒə] Haus – the beige house.

The other inflectional endings are visible: in dem beigen Haus – in the beige house.

Declension
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbaɪ̯ɡə/
  • Hyphenation: bei‧ge

Verb

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beige

  1. inflection of beigen:
    1. first-person singular present
    2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
    3. singular imperative

Further reading

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  • beige” in Duden online
  • beige” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Luxembourgish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French beige.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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beige (masculine beigen, neuter beiget, comparative méi beige, superlative am beigesten)

  1. beige

Declension

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This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Norwegian Bokmål

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Alternative forms

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  • besj (alternative spelling)

Adjective

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beige (singular and plural beige)

  1. beige

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Alternative forms

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  • besj (alternative spelling)

Adjective

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beige (singular and plural beige, comparative beigare, indefinite superlative beigast, definite superlative beigaste)

  1. beige

References

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Spanish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from French beige.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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beige (invariable)

  1. Alternative form of beis

Noun

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beige m (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of beis

Usage notes

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According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

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Swedish

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Etymology

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Attested from 1895. Unadapted borrowing from French beige. The slang definition is likely associated to the perceived blandness of the color.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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beige

  1. beige.
    Hon hade en lång, beige kappa på sig.
    She wore a long, beige coat.
  2. (slang) boring, uninteresting, negative.
    Din morsa är så jävla beige!
    Your mother is so damn dull.

Declension

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Inflection of beige
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular beige beigare beigast
Neuter singular beigt beigare beigast
Plural beiga beigare beigast
Masculine plural3 beige beigare beigast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 beige beigare beigaste
All beiga beigare beigaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic