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by-

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: Appendix:Variations of "by"

English

Alternative forms

bye-

Etymology 1

From Middle English by (“town”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse býr (“dwelling, town”), from Proto-Germanic *būwiz (“dwelling”). Cognate with Danish by (“town”). More at bower.

Prefix

by-

(now mostly non-productive) Town or city.
bylaw

Etymology 2

Partly from a combining form of by (“by, near, around”), and partly continuing Middle English bi-, by-, from Old English bī- (“by, near, around”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- (“by-”). Cognate with Dutch bij-, German bei-.

Prefix

by-

Nearness or roundaboutness.
bystander, bypass
Secondary, incidental, or parallel to.
by-product, byform, by-path

Derived terms

Translations

nearness or roundaboutness

Hungarian: (roundaboutness) kerülő- (hu), (nearness) melletti (hu), közeli (hu)

secondary, incidental, or parallel to

Hungarian: mellék- (hu), mellékes (hu), másodlagos (hu), köztes (hu), időközi (hu)
Swedish: bi- (sv)

Anagrams

YB, Yb, yb

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English bī-, from bī (Middle English by); compare bi-.

Alternative forms

bi-

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbiː-/

Prefix

by-

A prefix forming nouns, often denoting adjacency, position, or relation.; near, around

Derived terms

Middle English terms prefixed with by-

Descendants

English: by-, be-
Scots: by-, be-

References

“bi-, pref.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Prefix

by-

Alternative form of bi-

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