buy

English

Etymology

From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”).

Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to build, settle”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.

Pronunciation

enPR: bī, IPA^(key): /baɪ/
Audio (US): (file)
Audio (UK): (file)
Rhymes: -aɪ
Homophones: bi, bye, by

Verb

buy (third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buying, simple past bought, past participle bought or (archaic, rare, dialectal) boughten)

(transitive, ditransitive) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.
I'm going to buy my father something nice for his birthday.
- 1793, Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography:
  Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.
(transitive, ditransitive) To obtain, especially by some sacrifice.
I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.

You just bought yourself an assault charge!
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:23:
  Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
(transitive, archaic) To suffer consequences for (something) through being deprived of something; to pay for (something one has done).
- 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:
  VVhat villaine, doſt ſtrike me? I ſweare by the rood,
  As I am Iacke Strawe, thou ſhalt buy it with thy blood.
(transitive) To bribe.
He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.
(transitive) To be equivalent to in value.
The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.
(transitive, informal) to accept as true; to believe
I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!
- 2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber Ltd, page 201:
  People like to say that dead people look asleep, and maybe she would have bought that under different circumstances.
(intransitive) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a drink, meal or gift)
She buys for Federated.

Let's go out for dinner. I'm buying.
(poker slang, transitive) To make a bluff, usually a large one.
Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff.

Conjugation

Conjugation of buy

infinitive	(to) buy
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	buy	bought
2nd-person singular	buyest^**	bought, boughtest^**
3rd-person singular	buys, buyeth^**	bought
plural	—	bought

subjunctive	buy	bought

imperative	buy	—

participles	buying	bought, boughten^**

* Dialectal. ** Archaic.

Alternative forms

buie (archaic)

Synonyms

(obtain in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), purchase
(accept as true): accept, believe, swallow (informal), take on
((intransitive) make a purchase): make a buy

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “obtain in exchange for money”): cheap (obsolete), sell, vend
(antonym(s) of “accept as true”): disbelieve, reject, pitch

Derived terms

Terms derived from buy (verb)

Related terms

aby

Descendants

Sranan Tongo: bai
Tok Pisin: baim

Translations

to obtain something with money

Abkhaz: аахәара (aaxʷara)
Afrikaans: koop (af)
Aghwan: 𐔸𐕒𐔲𐕒𐕡𐕆𐔴𐕍𐔴𐕚𐕒𐕡𐕎 (toguheq̇esun)
Ahom: 𑜏𑜢𑜤𑜈𑜫 (süw)
Ainu: ホㇰ (hok)
Akan: tɔ
Aklanon: bakae
Albanian: blej (sq)
Amharic: መግዛት (mägzat)
Apache:
Western Apache: nahiʼdiih
Arabic: اِشْتَرَى (ar) (ištarā)
Egyptian Arabic: اشترى (ištarā)

Hijazi Arabic: اَشْترى (aštara)

Moroccan Arabic: شرى (šra)

South Levantine Arabic: اشترى (ištara), شرى (šara)
Aragonese: crompar
Armenian: գնել (hy) (gnel), առնել (hy) (aṙnel)
Aromanian: acumpãr
Assamese: কিনা (kina)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܙܵܒ݂ܹܢ (zawen)
Asturian: mercar, comprar
Avar: бичун босизе (bičun bosize)
Azerbaijani: almaq (az)
Bashkir: һатып алыу (hatıp alıw), алыу (alıw)
Basque: erosi (eu)
Belait: melei
Belarusian: купля́ць impf (kupljácʹ), купі́ць pf (kupícʹ)
Bengali: কেনা (bn) (kena)
Bhojpuri: किनल (kinal)
Breton: prenañ (br)
Brunei Bisaya: mali
Brunei Malay: bali
Bulgarian: купу́вам (bg) impf (kupúvam)
Burmese: ဝယ် (my) (wai)
Catalan: comprar (ca)
Cebuano: palit
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵙⵖ (sɣ), ⴰⵖ (aɣ)
Central Dusun: boli
Chechen: please add this translation if you can
Chichewa: gula
Chinese:
Cantonese: 買／买 (maai⁵)

Mandarin: 買／买 (zh) (mǎi)
Chuukese: kamö
Cornish: prena
Corsican: cumprà (co)
Crimean Tatar: satın almaq
Czech: kupovat (cs) impf, koupit (cs) pf
Danish: købe (da)
Dutch: kopen (nl), aanschaffen (nl), aankopen (nl)
Elfdalian: tjyöpa
Esperanto: aĉeti (eo)
Estonian: ostma
Evenki: гами (gami)
Farefare: da
Faroese: keypa
Finnish: ostaa (fi)
Franco-Provençal: achetar
French: acheter (fr)
Friulian: comprâ
Galician: mercar (gl), comprar (gl)
Georgian: ყიდვა (q̇idva)
German: kaufen (de)
Gilaki: هین (he:n)
Gothic: 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan)
Greek: αγοράζω (el) (agorázo)
Ancient: ἀγοράζω (agorázō), ὠνέομαι (ōnéomai)
Greenlandic: sivoq
Guaraní: jogua
Gujarati: ખરીદવું (kharīdvũ)
Haitian Creole: achte
Hausa: sáyṓ
Hawaiian: kūʻai
Hebrew: קָנָה (he) (kaná)
Higaonon: palit
Hindi: मोल लेना (mol lenā), ख़रीदना (xarīdnā), कीनना (hi) (kīnnā)
Hungarian: vásárol (hu), vesz (hu)
Ibanag: gatang
Icelandic: kaupa (is)
Ido: komprar (io)
Ilocano: gumatang, manggatang, gatangen
Indonesian: membeli (id)
Ingrian: ostaa, lunastaa, lunata
Ingush: эца (eca)
Interlingua: comprar, emer
Irish: ceannaigh
Isan: ซื้อ
Isnag: xatang
Istriot: cunprà
Italian: comprare (it)
Iu Mien: maaiz
Ivatan: manadiw
Japanese: 買う (ja) (かう, kau), 購入する (ja) (こうにゅうする, kōnyū suru)
Javanese: tuku (jv), tumbas, mundhut (jv)
Kabyle: ⴰⵖ (aɣ)
Kaingang: kajãm
Kambera: kei
Kapampangan: sali, sumali
Kazakh: сатып алу (kk) (satyp alu)
Khmer: ទិញ (km) (tɨñ)
Khün: ᨪᩨ᩶
Kongo: kusumba
Korean: 사다 (ko) (sada), 구입하다 (ko) (gu'iphada)
Kumyk: алмакъ (almaq)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کڕین (ckb) (krrîn)

Northern Kurdish: kirîn (ku), standin (ku)
Kyrgyz: сатып алуу (ky) (satıp aluu)
Ladin: comprer
Lao: ຊື້ (sư̄)
Latgalian: pierkt
Latin: emō (la), sūmō (la)
Latvian: pirkt (lv), nopirkt
Ligurian: acatâ
Lithuanian: pirkti (lt)
Lombard: crompâ
Low German:
German Low German: köpen (nds)
Lü: ᦌᦹᧉ (sue²)
Luxembourgish: kafen
Macedonian: ку́пува impf (kúpuva)
Malay: beli (ms)
Maltese: xtara
Manchu: ᡠᡩᠠᠮᠪᡳ (udambi)
Mansaka: bili
Maori: hoko (with indicator mai)
Mokilese: dupukda
Mongolian: авах (mn) (avax), худалдаж авах (xudaldaž avax)
Moore: ra
Nanai: гаори (gaori)
Navajo: nayiiłniih
Neapolitan: accattà
Nepali: किन्नु (ne) (kinnu)
Ngazidja Comorian: uhula
Norman: acater (Jersey), acataer (continental Normandy)
North Frisian: (Föhr-Amrum) kuupe
Northern Sami: oastit
Northern Thai: ᨪᩨ᩶
Norwegian: kjøpe (no)
Occitan: crompar (oc)
Ojibwe: adaawen
Okinawan: 買ーゆん (kōyun), 買ーいん (kōin)
Old English: bycgan, ceapian
Old Norse: kaupa, byggja
Old Saxon: buggian
Oromo: bituu
Ossetian: ӕлхӕнын (ælxænyn)
Papiamentu: kumpra
Pashto: پېرل (ps) (perǝ́l), پېرودل (ps) (perowdᶕl)
Persian: خریدن (fa) (xaridan)
Polish: kupować (pl) impf, kupić (pl) pf, nabywać (pl) impf, nabyć (pl) pf
Portuguese: comprar (pt), adquirir (pt)
Punjabi: ਖ਼ਰੀਦਣਾ (xarīdṇā)
Quechua: rantiy (qu), rantii
Romani: kinel
Romanian: cumpăra (ro)
Romansch: cumprar, cumprer
Russian: покупа́ть (ru) impf (pokupátʹ), купи́ть (ru) pf (kupítʹ)
Samogitian: pėrktė
Sanskrit: क्रीणाति (sa) (krīṇāti)
Sardinian: comparai, comporai, comporare, cumporai, comprai
Scottish Gaelic: ceannaich
Semai: belik
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: купити pf, куповати impf, покуповати

Roman: kupiti (sh) pf, kupovati (sh) impf, pokupovati (sh)
Shan: သိုဝ်ႉ (sṵ̂e)
Sicilian: accattari (scn), cumprari (scn)
Sindhi: خريد ڪرڻ
Sinhalese: ගන්නවා (si) (gannawā)
Slovak: kupovať impf, kúpiť (sk) pf
Slovene: kupovati impf, kupiti (sl) pf
Somali: gado, iibso
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: kupowaś impf, kupiś pf

Upper Sorbian: kupować (hsb) impf, kupić pf
Sotho: reka (st)
Spanish: comprar (es), mercar (es)
Swahili: kununua
Swedish: köpa (sv)
Tagalog: bili (tl), bilhin, bumili
Tai Dam: ꪏꪳ꫁
Tai Nüa: ᥔᥪᥳ (su̇e)
Tajik: харидан (tg) (xaridan)
Tamil: வாங்கு (ta) (vāṅku)
Tausug: bii
Tetum: sosa
Thai: ซื้อ (th) (sʉ́ʉ)
Tibetan: ཉོས (nyos), གཟིགས (gzigs) (honorific)
Tocharian B: käry-
Tumbuka: gula
Turkish: satın almak (tr), sakmak (tr), almak (tr)
Turkmen: satyn almak
Tutong: meli
Tuvan: садып алыр (sadıp alır)
Ukrainian: купува́ти (uk) impf (kupuváty), купи́ти pf (kupýty)
Urdu: مول لینا (mol lēnā), خریدنا (xarīdnā)
Uyghur: سېتىۋالماق (sëtiwalmaq)
Uzbek: sotib olmoq
Venetan: cronpar, conprar
Vietnamese: mua (vi)
Walloon: atchter (wa)
Waray-Waray: palit, balyo
Welsh: prynu (cy)
West Coast Bajau: beli
West Frisian: keape, keapje
White Hmong: yuav
Yagnobi: хиринак (xirinak)
Yiddish: קויפֿן (koyfn)
Yoruba: rà
Zhuang: cawx

to accept as true

Albanian: blej (sq)
Bashkir: ышаныу (ışanıw)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 買賬／买账 (zh) (mǎizhàng)
Czech: baštit (cs), žrát (cs), skočit (cs), sbaštit i s navijákem
Dutch: slikken (nl)
Finnish: niellä (fi), uskoa (fi)
French: gober (fr)
German: abkaufen (de), abnehmen (de)
Greek: χάβω (el) (chávo), χάφτω (el) (cháfto)
Hindi: मानना (hi) (mānnā)
Hungarian: bevesz (hu)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: pejirandin (ku), qebûl kirin
Luxembourgish: ofhuelen
Norwegian: kjøpe (no)
Portuguese: engolir (pt)
Russian: ве́рить (ru) impf (véritʹ), пове́рить (ru) pf (povéritʹ), ха́вать (ru) impf (xávatʹ) (slang), сха́вать (ru) pf (sxávatʹ) (slang)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: prihvatiti (sh)
Slovak: naletieť
Spanish: creer (es), comprar (es)
Swahili: nunua (sw)
Swedish: köpa (sv)
Turkish: yemek (tr)

to treat

Spanish: convidar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} mua (vi), ^{(please verify)} trã bằng giá, ^{(please verify)} đạt được, ^{(please verify)} được (vi), ^{(please verify)} mua chuộc (vi), ^{(please verify)} đút lót (vi), ^{(please verify)} hối lộ (vi), ^{(please verify)} sự mua, ^{(please verify)} vật mua

Noun

buy (plural buys)

Something which is bought; a purchase.
At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.

Antonyms

sale

Derived terms

Translations

purchase — see purchase

References

“buy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
“buy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

BYU

Chinese

Etymology

From English buy.

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): baai¹

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: baai¹
  - Yale: bāai
  - Cantonese Pinyin: baai¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: bai¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːi̯⁵⁵/

Verb

buy

(Hong Kong Cantonese) to accept (an idea)
- 2001, 尋秦記 [A Step into the Past], episode 1, spoken by 麥偉健 (麥長青 [Evergreen Mak Cheung-ching]):
  
  收聲呀，我唔buy你呀。 [Hong Kong Cantonese, trad.]
  收声呀，我唔buy你呀。 [Hong Kong Cantonese, simp.]
  sau¹ seng¹ aa³, ngo⁵ m⁴ baai¹ nei⁵ aa³. [Jyutping]
  Shut up. I'm not buying your [suggestion].

Scots

Alternative forms

beh (Dundee)

Etymology

From Old English bycgan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (unstressed) [bəi], (stressed) [baɪ]

Verb

buy (third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buyin, simple past bocht, past participle bocht)

buy

Tatar

Noun

buy

length

Wolof

Etymology

Related to guy (“baobab tree”).

Noun

buy (definite form buy bi)

baobab fruit
sweet drink made of this fruit by adding water, sugar, milk, and other ingredients