bean

See also: Bean, and bean-

English

Lima beans

Coffee beans

Vanilla beans

Etymology

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), West Frisian bean (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”), Swedish böna (“bean”), Danish bønne (“bean”), Norwegian bønne (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Latin faba (“bean”), Russian боб (bob, “bean”), Serbo-Croatian бо̏б/bȍb. Doublet of fava.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bēn, IPA^(key): /biːn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: been (in some dialects)
• Rhymes: -iːn

Noun

bean (plural beans)

2. Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family Fabaceae that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.
   • 2004, T. N. Shivenanda, B. R. V. Iyengar, Phosphorus Management in French Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.), Ramdane Dris, S. Mohan Jain (editors), Production Practices and Quality Assessment of Food Crops, Volume 2: Plant Mineral Nutrition and Pesticide Management, page 79,

     Beans are a large group of leguminous vegetables that serve as a main source of proteins in human diet. This group comprises several species and some of them are Adzuki bean (Vigna angularis); Broad bean (Vicia faba); Cluster bean (Cyamposis tetragonoloba); French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris); […] .

4. The large edible seed of such a plant (for example, a broad bean, navy bean, or garbanzo bean).
6. The edible seedpod of such a plant.

   Green beans, also called French beans, can be pickled and made into pickled beans.

8. (by extension) The bean-like seed of certain other plants, such as a vanilla bean or (especially) a coffee bean.
10. (by extension) An object resembling a pea or bean in shape, often made from plastic or styrofoam and used in large numbers as packing material or as stuffing for beanbags and similar items.
12. (slang) The head or brain.

    Synonym: noggin

    • 1959, Maxwell Droke, You and the World to Come, page 173:

      Now, there was a perfectly sound forecast for you. Certainly a case of using the old bean. The surmise was perfectly logical.

    • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI and XV:

      I saw her quiver and kept a wary eye on the ginger ale bottle. But even if she had raised it and brought it down on [my] bean, I couldn't have been more stunned than I was by the words that left her lips.
      [...]
      Well, as I say, it was from his fertile bean that the idea sprang.

14. (slang) The human clitoris.
    • 2010, Cynthia W. Gentry, Dana Fredst, What Women Really Want in Bed: The Surprising Secrets Women Wish Men Knew about Sex, Quiver, published 2010, →ISBN, page 64:

      For one, don't stage a full-frontal assault on her bean.

    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:bean.
16. (slang, often endearing) A person; especially, a baby.
    • 2000 April 9, Richard G Cheek, “Apologies, DimWit Dana”, in talk.politics.guns (Usenet):

      Sparky is a good bean, even if he is a carpet-bagging bean at that.

    • 2002 March 21, Yena, "oh my bloody god boys!", microsoft.public.xbox, Usenet:

      i dont want boid (whoever said that) he is mean. boid is a mean bean.

    • 2007, Alex Bradley, Hot Lunch, Penguin, →ISBN:

      "Good, because we like you. You're okay. You're a good bean." "I never thought I'd be friends with a cheerleader," I said.

18. (British, slang, archaic) A guinea coin.
20. (British, slang, chiefly in the negative) Money.

    I haven't got a bean.

22. (Java programming language) Clipping of JavaBean.
    • 2017, Iuliana Cosmina, Rob Harrop, Chris Schaefer, Clarence Ho, Pro Spring 5, 5th edition, Apress, →ISBN, page 131:

      The singerOne bean has values for both the name and age properties, so it passes through the init() method with absolutely no changes.

23. (slang) Any form of tablet, especially benzedrine (benny).
    • 2022, Sean Thor Conroe, Fuccboi‎^[2], Hachette, →ISBN:

      Once the bean kicked in I started wilding.

24. (colloquial, chiefly in the plural) A toe bean.

Usage notes

Beans and peas are sometimes misidentified (confused with one another); they are both legumes (belonging to the family Fabaceae) and seeds. The word bean has referred to a wide class of seeds since pre-Columbian times (when only the Eurasian types were known to Germanic language speakers), but, after Columbian contact, it was extended to other seeds belonging to the New World genus Phaseolus (runner beans, lima beans, and so on; see bean § Terminology for details). The fruits or seeds of some other non-Fabaceae plants (e.g., coffee beans, cocoa beans, vanilla beans, castor beans) are also referred to as beans, because of their resemblance to beans as named in the stricter sense.

Peas are a type of bean with smaller, round seeds in the pod, in contrast to the oval or kidney-shaped seeds usually referred to as beans. Because both terms are applied to a wide range of different legumes, the distinction is not always clear: garbanzo bean is a synonym of chickpea.

Hyponyms

• adsuki bean
• aduki bean
• adzuki bean
• algaroba bean
• algarroba bean
• Anasazi bean
• asparagus bean
• azuki bean
• baked beans, baked bean
• baking beans
• bay bean
• beach bean
• Bengal bean
• Benghal bean
• bitter bean
• blackbean
• black bean
• black-eyed bean
• black turtle bean
• blue beans
• bogbean
• bog bean
• Bolita bean
• bonavist bean
• borlotti bean
• broad bean
• broadbean
• brown bean
• buck bean
• buckbean
• buffalo bean
• bush bean
• butterbean
• butter bean
• cacao bean
• Calabar bean
• calico bean
• cannellini bean
• carob bean
• castor bean
• castor-oil bean
• ceci bean
• chili beans
• China bean
• Chinese long bean
• civet bean
• cluster bean
• cocoa bean
• coffee bean
• common bean
• coral bean
• corona bean
• cow bean
• cowboy beans
• cranberry bean
• djenkol bean
• dragon tongue bean
• Dutch case-knife bean
• dwarf bean
• edible bean
• Egyptian bean
• English bean
• English runner bean
• Entity Bean
• European bean
• faba bean
• fava bean
• fetish bean
• field bean
• flageolet bean
• flick the bean
• Florida bean
• Florida velvet bean
• French bean
• french bean
• French filet bean
• fresh bean
• full of beans
• garbanzo bean
• gemsbuck beans
• giant stock bean
• give someone beans
• goa bean
• great Northern bean
• great northern bean
• green bean
• green bean galaxy
• guar bean
• guava bean
• haricot bean
• haricot vert bean
• hog's bean
• horsebean
• horse bean
• human bean
• hyacinth bean
• ice-cream bean
• Ignatius' bean
• Indian bean
• Italian flat bean
• jack bean
• java bean
• jelly bean
• jellybean
• jequirity bean
• jering bean
• jolly bean
• jumby bean
• jumping bean
• Kentucky wonder bean
• Kersting's bean
• kidney bean
• Leichhardt's bean
• lima bean, Lima bean
• locust bean
• lupini bean
• Lyon bean
• Mackenzie bean
• Madagascar bean
• magotty bay bean
• Manila bean
• marama bean
• marrow bean
• mash bean
• mat bean
• matpe bean
• mescal bean
• mescalbean
• mesquite bean
• Message-driven Bean
• Mexican bean
• Mexican jumping bean
• Mexican yam bean
• mini beans
• Molucca bean
• moong bean
• morama bean
• morning bean
• moth bean
• mung bean
• mungo bean
• navy bean
• old bean
• ordeal bean
• pea bean
• pichurim bean
• pink bean
• pinto bean
• poison bean
• pole bean
• Price's potato-bean
• Pythagorean bean
• Queensland bean
• red bean
• refried beans, refried bean
• rice and beans
• rice bean (Vigna umbellata)
• Romano bean
• runner bean
• sacred bean
• sand bean
• scarlet runner bean
• screw bean
• screwbean
• sea bean
• seabean
• sea green bean
• shell bean
• sieva bean
• smoking bean
• snail bean
• snap bean
• snuffbox bean
• soja bean
• soup beans
• soya bean
• soy bean
• soybean
• Spanish bean
• speckled butter bean
• spill the beans
• St Ignatius' bean
• St Ignatius's bean
• stink bean
• stinky bean
• string bean
• stringless bean
• St. Thomas bean
• sugar bean
• sword bean
• tepary bean
• tickbean
• tick bean
• tonca bean
• tonga bean
• tonka bean
• tonqua bean
• tonquin bean
• turtle bean
• twisted cluster bean
• urd bean
• vanilla bean
• velvet bean
• Walkman Bean
• waxbean
• wax bean
• wax-pod bean
• Welsh bean
• white bean
• wild bean
• Windsor bean
• winged bean
• wolf bean
• wonder bean
• yam bean
• Yankee bean
• yard-long bean
• yardlong bean
• yellow bean

 

software: JavaBeans

• managed bean

 

Derived terms

• African locust bean
• a hill of beans
• asparagus-bean
• Banstead
• BaseBean
• bean aphid
• bean aphis
• bean-bag
• beanbag
• bean bag
• beanball
• bean ball
• bean beetle
• bean-belly
• bean blight
• beanbrain
• beanbrawl
• beanbreath
• bean bruchid
• bean-brush
• beanburger
• bean-butter
• bean-cake
• beancake
• bean cake
• bean-caper
• bean caper
• bean choke
• bean chute
• bean clam
• bean-cod
• bean-counter
• bean counter
• bean cowrie
• bean-crake
• bean curd
• bean curve
• bean dip
• bean-dolphin
• bean-eater
• beaner
• beanery
• bean family
• bean feast
• bean-feast
• beanfeast
• bean-fed
• beanfield
• bean-flicker
• bean flicker
• bean flicking
• beanflour
• bean fly
• bean-fly
• bean goose
• bean-goose
• Beanhead
• beanhole
• bean hole
• bean-hool
• bean-hull
• beanie
• Beanie Baby
• beanie baby
• beanie key
• bean iron ore
• bean jar
• bean king
• bean-king
• bean leafroller
• beanless
• bean-like
• beanlike
• bean machine
• bean masher
• beanmeal
• bean metal
• bean-mouse
• bean of Molucca
• bean of St Ignatius
• bean oil
• bean paste
• bean pie
• bean plant
• beanplot
• beanpole, bean-pole, bean pole
• bean pot
• beanpot
• Beanpot
• bean queen
• bean rag
• bean salad
• beans bunny
• Bean Scripting Framework
• bean seed fly
• bean-shaped plasma
• bean-shatter
• bean shoot
• bean-shooter
• bean shot
• bean-shot copper
• bean-shouter
• bean slot
• beans on toast
• beanspilling
• bean sprout
• beanstalk, bean-stalk
• bean stitch
• bean-straw
• bean thread noodles
• bean threads
• bean-to-bar
• bean tostada
• Beantown
• Bean Town
• bean-tree
• bean tree
• bean trefoil
• bean trefoil
• bean-trefoil
• bean-vine
• bean wagon
• beanwater
• beanweed
• bean weevil
• bean-wood
• beany
• blackbean
• black bean aphid
• bobby bean
• bogbean
• boring as beans
• broadbean
• buck-bean
• buckbean
• bullets and beans
• bush-bean
• butterbean
• campfire beans
• castor-bean
• castor bean tick
• charro bean
• chuckwagon beans
• clean as a bean
• cool beans
• cowboy beans
• desert bean
• dilly bean
• Enola bean
• fine bean
• flick one's bean
• for beans
• for beans
• full of beans
• gemsbok bean
• get beans
• goa bean vine
• goober bean
• gully bean
• horsebean
• hot bean
• hot boiled beans
• Ignatius bean
• JavaBean
• java-bean
• jellybean
• jugo bean
• keen as a bean
• keep it a bean
• kewl beans
• know beans about
• know how many beans make five
• le dollar bean
• locust bean gum
• long-bean
• Malacca bean
• Malacca-bean
• Malacca-bean tree
• Malacca bean tree
• maloga bean
• May-bean
• MBean
• Mexican bean beetle
• mole bean
• multiflora bean
• NetBeans
• nicker bean
• not care beans
• not have a bean
• not know beans
• not worth beans
• peachy keen jelly bean
• pole-bean
• pork and bean
• pork and beans
• pork and beans
• potato-bean
• prairie-bean
• red bean paste
• refried bean
• scarlet bean
• scarlet-bean
• screw-bean
• seabean
• session bean
• silly bean
• snake bean
• snoutbean
• snuff box sea bean
• soup beans
• soybean
• spill the beans
• stinking bean trefoil
• sweet bean sauce
• tickbean
• toe bean
• tough beans
• tundra bean goose
• waxbean

 

Descendants

• → Fiji Hindi: biin

Translations

plant of Fabaceae that produces edible seeds or pods

• German: Bohnenpflanze f
• Romagnol: fașöl m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: bob m

• Walloon: feve (wa) f

seed

• Acehnese: kacang
• Afrikaans: boontjie
• Albanian: bathë (sq) f, fasule (sq) f
• Amharic: ባቄላ (baḳela)
• Andi: гьоли (holi)
• Apache:

  Western Apache: béʼistsʼǫ́z

• Arabic: فَاصُولِيَا f (fāṣūliyā), لُوبِيَا f (lūbiyā)

  Egyptian Arabic: فول m (fūl) (collective), فولة f (fūla) (singulative)

• Aragonese: faba
• Argobba: ባቄላ (bāqelā)
• Armenian: լոբի (hy) (lobi), բակլա (hy) (bakla)
• Asturian: faba (ast) f
• Avar: гьоло (holo)
• Azerbaijani: lobya (az)
• Balinese: buncis
• Baluchi: ماک (mák)
• Basque: babarrun
• Belarusian: боб m (bob), фасо́ль f (fasólʹ)
• Bengali: সীম (śim), শিম (bn) (śim)
• Blackfoot: áótooksiinaattsi sg, áótooksiinattsiistsi pl
• Breton: favenn (br) f
• Bulgarian: боб (bg) m (bob), фасу́л (bg) m (fasúl)
• Burmese: ပဲ (my) (pai:)
• Catalan: fesol (ca) m, (Principality and Islands) mongeta (ca) f
• Chakma: please add this translation if you can
• Chamicuro: mapolooto
• Cherokee: ᏚᏯ (duya)
• Chichewa: nyemba
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 豆まめ (zh) (dòu)

• Cornish: faven f
• Czech: fazole (cs) f
• Danish: bønne c, bønner pl
• Dutch: boon (nl) f
• Erzya: покра (pokra)
• Esperanto: fabo
• Estonian: uba (et)
• Ewe: ayi n
• Faroese: bøna f
• Finnish: papu (fi)
• French: haricot (fr) m
• Galician: feixón (gl) m, faba (gl) f
• Ge'ez: ባቄላ (baḳela)
• Georgian: ლობიო (lobio)
• German: Bohne (de) f
• Greek: φασόλι (el) n (fasóli)

  Ancient: φάσηλος m (phásēlos), κύαμος m (kúamos)

• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Haitian Creole: pwa
• Hebrew: שְׁעוּעִית (he) f (she’u’ít)
• Hindi: सेम (hi) f (sem)
• Hungarian: bab (hu), paszuly (hu)
• Hunsrik: Bohn f
• Icelandic: baun (is) f
• Ido: fabo (io)
• Indonesian: kacang (id)
• Ingrian: papu
• Inuktitut: nilernait
• Irish: pónaire (ga) f
• Italian: fagiolo (it) m
• Iu Mien: dopc
• Japanese: 豆まめ (ja) (まめ, mamé), 隠元いんげん (ja) (いんげん, ingen)
• Jarai: rơtă
• Javanese: ꦏꦕꦁ (jv) (kacang)
• K'iche': kinaq'
• Kazakh: бұршақ (kk) (būrşaq)
• Khmer: សណ្ដែក (km) (sɑndaek)
• Kikuyu: mbosho
• Korean: 콩 (ko) (kong)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: فاسولیا (fasulya)

  Northern Kurdish: fasûlî (ku) f

• Kyrgyz: буурчак (ky) (buurcak)
• Ladino: ava, fijon (Saloniko), fasulya
• Lak: хъюру (quˤru)
• Lakota: omnica
• Lao: ໝາກຖົ່ວ (lo) (māk thūa), ຖົ່ວ (thūa)
• Latin: faba f, phaseolus m
• Latvian: pupa (lv) f
• Ligurian: faxeu m
• Lithuanian: pupelė f, pupa (lt) f
• Lombard: fasoeul (lmo) m
• Low German: Boon f
• Lü: ᦷᦏᧈ (ṫho¹)
• Luhya: kamakanda
• Macedonian: грав (mk) m (grav), боб m (bob)
• Malagasy: tsaramaso (mg)
• Malay: kacang (ms)
• Maltese: fażola f (general), fula f (broad bean)
• Manchu: ᡨᡠᡵᡳ (turi)
• Manx: poanrey m
• Maori: piini
• Massachusett: tupahquam
• Mbyá Guaraní: kumanda
• Mongolian: шош (mn) (šoš), буурцаг (mn) (buurcag)
• Nahuatl: etl (nah)
• Navajo: naaʼołí
• Neapolitan: fasulo
• Norman: haricot m
• North Frisian: buan m (Föhr-Amrum)
• Northern Sami: báhpu
• Norwegian: bønne (no) c
• Occitan: mongeta (oc) f, favòl (oc) m
• Odia: please add this translation if you can
• Ojibwe: mashkodesimin, mashkodesiminag pl, miskodiisimin, miskodiisiminag pl
• Old Javanese: kacaṅ
• Old Prussian: babo
• Oromo: baaqelaa
• Pennsylvania German: Buhn f
• Persian: لوبیا (fa) (lubiyâ), باقالا (bâqâlâ)
• Pipil: et
• Plautdietsch: Boon f
• Polish: fasola (pl) f
• Portuguese: feijão (pt) m
• Punjabi: please add this translation if you can
• Quechua: chuwi, jawas
• Rohingya: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: fasole (ro) f, bob (ro) m
• Romansch: fav m, bagiauna f
• Russian: боб (ru) m (bob), фасо́ль (ru) f (fasólʹ)
• Saterland Frisian: Boone f
• Scottish Gaelic: pònair f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: па̀сӯљ m, гра̏х m

  Roman: pàsūlj (sh) m, grȁh (sh) m

• Shan: ထူဝ်ႇ (shn) (thò)
• Sicilian: faciola (scn) f
• Sinhalese: බෝංචි (si) (bōṁci)
• Slovak: fazuľa f
• Slovene: fižol (sl) m
• Somali: digir (so)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: bobowka f

  Upper Sorbian: buna f

• Sotho: nawa (st)
• Spanish: haba (es) f, frijol (es) m, habichuela (es), (Spain) judía (es), alubia (es) f, poroto (es) m (South America)
• Southern Altai: мырчак (mïrčak)
• Sundanese: please add this translation if you can
• Swahili: haragwe (sw) class 5/6
• Swedish: böna (sv) c
• Tagalog: katsang
• Tai Dam: ꪖ꪿ꪺ
• Tajik: лӯбиё (lübiyo)
• Taos: tą́na
• Tarifit: baw m
• Thai: ถั่ว (th) (tùua)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Tigrinya: ባልደንጓ (ti) (baldängʷa)
• Turkish: fasulye (tr)
• Turkmen: kösük, noýba
• Uab Meto: fue
• Ukrainian: біб (uk) m (bib), квасо́ля f (kvasólja), фасо́ля f (fasólja)
• Unami: malàxkwsit
• Urdu: لوبیا ? (lubiyā), سیم ? (sem)
• Uyghur: پۇرچاق (purchaq)
• Uzbek: loviya (uz)
• Vietnamese: đậu (vi) (豆まめ)
• Walloon: feve (wa) f
• Welsh: ffa (cy) f
• West Frisian: beane c
• White Hmong: noob taum, taum
• Wintu: friholis pl
• Yiddish: באָב m (bob), בעבל n (bebl), פֿאַסאָליע f (fasolye)
• Yup'ik: nelernaq

pod

• Finnish: papu (fi) (as food), palko (fi) (otherwise)
• Macedonian: мешунка f (mešunka)
• Navajo: naa'ołí
• Romanian: păstaie (ro) f, teacă (ro) f
• Russian: боб (ru) m (bob)
• Scottish Gaelic: pònair f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: tšuka f, tšuk m

• Spanish: vaina (es) f
• Swahili: haragwe (sw) class 5/6

other bean-like seed

• Finnish: papu (fi)
• Hebrew: פּוֹל (he) m (pol)
• Latvian: pupa (lv) f
• Polish: ziarno (pl) n
• Russian: боб (ru) m (bob), стручо́к (ru) m (stručók), зерно́ (ru) n (zernó)
• Scottish Gaelic: pònair f
• Slovak: zrnko n
• Spanish: grano (es)
• Swahili: haragwe (sw) class 5/6

stuffing for beanbags and similar items

• Finnish: jyvä (fi)

slang: head or brain

• Dutch: knikker (nl) m, kop (nl) m, harses (nl) pl
• Finnish: nuppi (fi), polla (fi)

guinea coin — see guinea

slang: money

• Finnish: lati (fi), penni (fi)

software: short for JavaBean

• Esperanto: fabo
• German: Bean f
• Turkish: eleman (tr)

Verb

bean (third-person singular simple present beans, present participle beaning, simple past and past participle beaned)

1. (chiefly baseball) To hit deliberately with a projectile, especially in the head.

   The pitcher beaned the batter, rather than letting him hit another home run.

   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IX and XI:

     Though I shall have to exercise an iron self-restraint to keep me from beaning that pie-faced little hornswoggler Mrs Bertram Wooster, nee Wickham, with the shaker.
     [...]
     dudgeon might easily lead her to reach for the ginger ale bottle and bean me with it.

Further reading

• bean on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Bean (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “bean n.¹”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Anagrams

• Bane, Bena, bane, nabe

Basque

Noun

bean

1. inessive singular of be

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /bʲan̪ˠ/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /bʲæn/
• (Cois Fharraige) IPA^(key): /bʲæːn̪ˠ/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /bʲanˠ/, /bʲan̪ˠ/

Etymology 1

PIE word
*gʷḗn

From Old Irish ben, from Proto-Celtic *benā, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn.

Noun

bean f (genitive singular mná, nominative plural mná)

1. woman
2. wife

Declension

Declension of bean

Irregular

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative bean mná Vocative a bhean a mhná Genitive mná ban Dative bean mnaoi (archaic or dialectal) mná mnáibh (archaic)

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an bhean na mná Genitive na mná na mban Dative leis an mbean; don bhean leis an mnaoi; don mhnaoi (archaic or dialectal) leis na mná leis na mnáibh (archaic)

Derived terms

• áilleagán mná (“useless pretty woman”)
• alaisceach mná f (“big strong woman”)
• bean abhrais (“spinner”)
• bean aimrid (“barren woman”)
• bean chabhrach (“midwife”)
• bean chaointe (“keening woman”)
• bean chéile (“wife”)
• bean choibhche (“mistress”)
• bean choimhdeachta (“lady's maid”)
• bean choiteann (“prostitute”)
• bean chrosach (“palmist, fortune-teller”)
• bean feasa (“wise woman, fortune-teller”)
• bean fuála (“needlewoman”)
• bean ghaoil (“female relative”)
• bean ghlúine (“midwife”)
• bean lóistín (“landlady”)
• bean luí (“concubine”)
• bean níocháin (“washerwoman”)
• bean rialta (“nun”)
• bean seoil (“woman in childbirth”)
• bean seolta (“woman in childbirth”)
• bean sí (“banshee, fairy woman”)
• bean siúil (“travelling woman”)
• bean snáthaide (“needlewoman”)
• bean sráide (“prostitute”)
• bean thíosach (“good housewife”)
• bean tí (“housewife; housekeeper”)
• bean tíre (“countrywoman”)
• bean tuaithe (“countrywoman”)
• bean uasal (“lady”)
• bunbhean (“middle-aged woman”)
• callaire mná (“scold”)
• dochtúir ban (“gynaecologist”)
• drochbhean (“bad woman”)
• éigean mná (“rape”)
• lia ban (“gynaecologist”)
• liacht bhan (“gynaecology”)
• macaomh mná (“girl, young woman”)
• maistín mná (“virago”)
• ógbhean (“young woman”)
• puisbhean (“aging spinster”)
• raibiléir mná (“harlot, hussy”)
• ropaire mná (“virago”)
• scafaire mná (“strapping girl”)
• seanbhean (“old woman”)
• siollaire mná (“strong comely woman”)
• stiúireachán mná (“virago”)

 

Pronoun

bean

1. one (of women, girls)

   Tá triúr iníonacha agam; tá bean acu trasinscneach.

   I have three daughters; one of them is transgender.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bean”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “bean”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 60
• “bean”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Etymology 2

From a conflation of Old Irish benaid (“beat, strike”) and bongaid (“break, cut”).

Verb

bean (present analytic beanann, future analytic beanfaidh, verbal noun beant, past participle beanta)

1. (transitive, intransitive) Alternative form of bain

Inflection

conjugation of bean (first conjugation – A)

		singular			plural			relative	autonomous
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	present	beanaim	beanann tú; beanair†	beanann sé, sí	beanaimid	beanann sibh	beanann siad; beanaid†	a bheanann; a bheanas / a mbeanann*	beantar
	past	bhean mé; bheanas	bhean tú; bheanais	bhean sé, sí	bheanamar; bhean muid	bhean sibh; bheanabhair	bhean siad; bheanadar	a bhean / ar bhean*	beanadh
	past habitual	bheanainn / mbeanainn‡‡	bheantá / mbeantᇇ	bheanadh sé, sí / mbeanadh sé, s퇇	bheanaimis; bheanadh muid / mbeanaimis‡‡; mbeanadh muid‡‡	bheanadh sibh / mbeanadh sibh‡‡	bheanaidís; bheanadh siad / mbeanaidís‡‡; mbeanadh siad‡‡	a bheanadh / a mbeanadh*	bheantaí / mbeanta퇇
future		beanfaidh mé; beanfad	beanfaidh tú; beanfair†	beanfaidh sé, sí	beanfaimid; beanfaidh muid	beanfaidh sibh	beanfaidh siad; beanfaid†	a bheanfaidh; a bheanfas / a mbeanfaidh*	beanfar
conditional		bheanfainn / mbeanfainn‡‡	bheanfá / mbeanfᇇ	bheanfadh sé, sí / mbeanfadh sé, s퇇	bheanfaimis; bheanfadh muid / mbeanfaimis‡‡; mbeanfadh muid‡‡	bheanfadh sibh / mbeanfadh sibh‡‡	bheanfaidís; bheanfadh siad / mbeanfaidís‡‡; mbeanfadh siad‡‡	a bheanfadh / a mbeanfadh*	bheanfaí / mbeanfa퇇
subjunctive	present	go mbeana mé; go mbeanad†	go mbeana tú; go mbeanair†	go mbeana sé, sí	go mbeanaimid; go mbeana muid	go mbeana sibh	go mbeana siad; go mbeanaid†	—	go mbeantar
	past	dá mbeanainn	dá mbeantá	dá mbeanadh sé, sí	dá mbeanaimis; dá mbeanadh muid	dá mbeanadh sibh	dá mbeanaidís; dá mbeanadh siad	—	dá mbeantaí
imperative		beanaim	bean	beanadh sé, sí	beanaimis	beanaigí; beanaidh†	beanaidís	—	beantar
verbal noun		beant
past participle		beanta

* indirect relative
† archaic or dialect form
‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
bean	bhean	mbean
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Verb

bean (third-person singular simple present is, present participle beinge, first-/third-person singular past indicative was, past participle beon)

1. Alternative form of been (“to be”)

Etymology 2

Noun

bean (plural beanen)

1. Alternative form of bene (“bean”)

Old English

Alternative forms

• bīen

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *baunu.

Cognates

Cognate with Old Frisian bāne, bām (West Frisian bean), Old Saxon bōna (Low German Bohn), Dutch boon, Old High German bōna (German Bohne), Old Norse baun (Danish bønne, Swedish böna).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæ͜ɑːn/

Noun

bēan f (nominative plural bēana or bēane)

1. bean (especially the broad bean)

Declension

Declension of bēan (strong ō-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	bēan	bēana, bēane
accusative	bēane	bēana, bēane
genitive	bēane	bēana
dative	bēane	bēanum

Descendants

• Middle English: bene, beane, beene, beyn, ben, bean
  • English: bean
  • Scots: bein, bene
  • Yola: beanès, beanes, baanès, baanes, banès (plural)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French béjaune.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.an/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛan
• Syllabification: be‧an

Noun

bean m animal

1. (archaic) greenhorn

   Synonym: żółtodziób

2. (archaic) rude person

   Synonyms: cham, prostak

Further reading

• bean in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Middle Irish ben, from Old Irish ben. Cognates include Irish bean and Manx ben.

Pronunciation

• (Lewis) IPA^(key): /b̥ɛ̃n/, [b̥æ̃n]
• (Uist, Barra) IPA^(key): /b̥ɛn/

Noun

bean f

1. wife
2. (archaic) woman

   Synonym: boireannach

Declension

Declension of bean (irregular feminine noun)

Indefinite
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	bean	mnathan; mnai (archaic)
Genitive	mnà; mnatha; mnathadh (archaic, dialectal)	ban
Dative	bean; mnaoi (archaic)	mnathan; mnathaibh (archaic)
Definite
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	(a') bhean	(na) mnathan; (na) mnai (archaic)
Genitive	(na) mnà; (na) mnatha; (na) mnathadh (archaic, dialectal)	(nam) ban
Dative	(a') bhean; (a') mhnaoi (archaic)	(na) mnathan; (na) mnathaibh (archaic)
Vocative	(a) bhean	(a) mhnathan

Derived terms

• ban-
• bana-
• bean-

 

Mutation

Mutation of bean

radical	lenition
bean	bhean

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

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “bean”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan‎^[3], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Colin Mark (2003) “bean”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 68

Swedish

Noun

bean

1. definite singular of bea

West Frisian

Alternative forms

• beane, beanne

Etymology

From Old Frisian bāne, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu.

Cognate with Dutch boon, English bean, German Bohne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪə̯n/

Noun

bean c (plural beanen, diminutive beantsje)

1. bean

Further reading

• “bean”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011