bae
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /beɪ/, enPR: bā
Audio (CA) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪ
- Homophone: bay
Etymology 1
Syncopic form of babe or baby. Notably, it is sometimes incorrectly linked to the unrelated Danish word bæ (“poop”). Sometimes claimed to derive from "before anyone else", a possible backronym.
Noun
bae (plural baes)
- (slang) Darling (term of endearment).
- 2013, "Jack", "Jack & Jill: On High School Relationships", The Torch (St. John's University), Volume 91, Issue 5, 28 August 2013, page 9:
- And if you actually want to see your bae – you know, like in person – You[sic] better set aside some of your refund check to pay for the $26 train ticket to a school that lingers outside of the tri-state area.
- 2014, Laken Howard, "Pillow Talk: Let's talk about V-day", The Current (entertainment insert of The Daily Northwestern, Northwestern University), 13 February 2014, page 3:
- Your newsfeed gets clogged with statuses like “Happy Valentine’s Day to my bae! I’ve loved you so much ever since we first met three months, eight days, 11 hours and 27 minutes ago!”
- 2014, "How Steamy Is Your PDA?", Seventeen, June/July 2014, page 98:
- A fresh pic of you and your bae on vacay together? Who wouldn't “like” that?!?
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:bae.
- Synonyms: babe, baby, darling, dear, love, sweetheart, loved one, significant other, special someone
- 2013, "Jack", "Jack & Jill: On High School Relationships", The Torch (St. John's University), Volume 91, Issue 5, 28 August 2013, page 9:
Etymology 3
From Old French bay, combined with aphetized form of abay; verbal form Old French baier, abaier.
Verb
bae (third-person singular simple present baes, present participle baeing, simple past and past participle baed)
- (intransitive) To make the sound of a wild animal, to bay.
- c. 1598, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, act 3, scene 3, line 70:
- He's a lamb indeed, that baes like a bear.
- c. 1608, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, act 2, scene 1, line 10:
- ...the ewe that will not hear her lamb when it baes will never answer a calf when he bleats.
Bislama
Marshallese
Pronunciation
Etymology 2
Borrowed from English pie, from Middle English pye, pie, probably from Latin pīca (“magpie, jay”) (from the idea of the many ingredients put into pies likened to the tendency of magpies to bring a variety of objects back to their nests).
References
Welsh
Pronunciation
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /baːɨ̯/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /bai̯/
- Rhymes: -aːɨ̯
Derived terms
- Bae Colwyn (“Colwyn Bay”)
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Mutation
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
bae | fae | mae | unchanged |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Further reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “bae”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Zhuang
Pronunciation
- (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /pai˨˦/
- Tone numbers: bae1
- Hyphenation: bae
Etymology 1
From Proto-Tai *pajᴬ (“to go”). Cognate with Thai ไป (bpai), Northern Thai ᨻᩱ (pai), Khün ᨻᩱ (pai), Lao ໄປ (pai), Lü ᦺᦔ (ṗay) and ᦺᦗ (pay), Tai Dam ꪼꪜ, Shan ပႆ (pǎi), Aiton ပႝ (pay), Bouyei bail.
Derived terms
- baema
Particle
bae (Sawndip forms 𭆛 or 丕 or 批 or 䢙 or 贝 or 𫨰, 1957–1982 spelling bəi)
- Used after a verb to indicate removal of an object.
Verb
bae (1957–1982 spelling bəi)