bel

bel

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Belarusian.

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Homophones: bell, belle

Named after Alexander Graham Bell.

bel (plural bels)

1. A measure of relative power, defined as log₁₀(P ₁/P ₂), where P₁ and P₂ are the measured and reference power respectively.

• Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary

bel (plural bels)

1. Alternative form of bael (“Indian tree”)

• BLE, EBL, LEB, Leb, Leb.

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بل (bel, “waist; spade”) (Turkish bel).

bel m

1. (anatomy) waist

From Ottoman Turkish بل (bel, “spade”), from Persian بیل (bil, “spade”).

bel m

1. spade

• bela, bel-la (feminine)

From Latin bellus (“pretty”). Compare Gascon bèth for the determiner use.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbel/
• Rhymes: -el
• Syllabification: bel

bel m

1. strange (in certain expressions)

bel m

1. any, anyone

• Badia I Margarit, Antonio. 1950. El habla del Valle de Bielsa. Barcelona: Instituto de Estudios Pirenaicos. 88, 232.

• IPA^(key): /bel/

• Audio (Baku)

  (file)

From Proto-Turkic *bẹ̄l.

bel (definite accusative beli, plural bellər)

1. (anatomy) back of the body

   Synonyms: dal, arxa

   Belim ağrıyır. ― My back hurts.

   uşaqlığı at belində keçən adam ― a person whose childhood has passed on the back of a horse.

2. (anatomy) small of the back
3. (anatomy) waist

   Synonym: miyan

4. (geography) saddleback, saddle, col

• bel bağlamaq (“to rely on”)

From Persian بیل (bil, “spade”).

bel (definite accusative beli, plural bellər)

1. spade

• “bel” in Obastan.com.

From English bell.

bel

1. bell

From English belly.

bel

1. belly

From English bale.

bel

1. bale

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian) [ˈbɛl]

Deverbal from belar (“to bleat”).

bel m (plural bels)

1. baa, bleat

• belar

bel m (plural bels)

1. (physics, acoustics) bel

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bel
• Rhymes: -ɛl

From Middle Dutch belle, from Old Dutch bella, from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

bel f (plural bellen, diminutive belletje n)

1. bell
2. (obsolete) segment of a rattlesnake's rattle

• → Caribbean Javanese: bèl
• → Sranan Tongo: bèl

Probably a variant of bal (“ball, round convex object”)

bel f (plural bellen, diminutive belletje n)

1. bubble

   Synonym: bubbel

• luchtbel
• zeepbel

Compare the semantic development of slet, but it is not certain whether the sense rag here is related to the sense referring to vulgar women, which is barely attested as simplex. Alternatively, the compounds featuring this words have been explained as being formed by analogy with snottebel or perhaps lellebel; note lellebellen (“to chit-chat”), which is attested as early as 1599 and may be related to German bellen (“to bark”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

bel ? (plural bellen, diminutive belletje n)

1. (obsolete, literally) rag
2. (obsolete, figuratively) loose, vulgar woman

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bel

1. inflection of bellen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: bêle, belle

see beau

bel

1. form of beau used before a masculine noun that starts with a vowel sound

• used before masculine nouns that start with a vowel like animal but also before nouns that start with a vowel sound like homme, where the h is silent: un bel homme (/œ̃ bɛ.l‿ɔm/)

• bel air
• bel-enfant
• bel esprit

Named for Alexander Graham Bell

bel m (plural bels)

1. (sound engineering) bel (unit of sound intensity)

• décibel

• “bel”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• blé

Borrowed from English belt.

• IPA^(key): /bél/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [bál]

bêl m

1. belt
2. seatbelt

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛl]
• Hyphenation: bel
• Rhymes: -ɛl

From English bel.

bel

1. bel (a unit of measurement)

From bél.

bel

1. (archaic) internal part (a variant form of bél, used in derivatives)

• bel in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• bel and bel- in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛːl/

  Rhymes: -ɛːl

bel n (genitive singular bels, nominative plural bel)

1. bel (measure of relative power)

• desibel, desíbel

From Dutch bel (“bell”), from Middle Dutch belle, from Old Dutch bella, from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ.

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/
• Hyphenation: bèl

bèl (first-person possessive belku, second-person possessive belmu, third-person possessive belnya)

1. bell

   Synonym: lonceng

bèl

1. (colloquial) To make phone call.

From English bel, after Alexander Graham Bell.

• IPA^(key): /bəl/
• Hyphenation: bêl

bêl (first-person possessive belku, second-person possessive belmu, third-person possessive belnya)

1. (physics) bel, a measure of relative power, defined as log₁₀(P ₁/P ₂), where P₁ and P₂ are the measured and reference power respectively.

• “bel” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/
• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Hyphenation: bel

bel

1. preconsonantal masculine singular form of bello

From Proto-Turkic *bẹ̄l(k).

bel

1. thigh, waist

• N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “bel”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بل (bel, “waist”).

bel m (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling ביל)

1. (anatomy) waist

From Proto-Austronesian *qebel.

bel

1. smoke

From Proto-Austronesian *qebel, compare Mansaka ubul and Western Bukidnon Manobo evel.

bel

1. smoke

• A Maranao Dictionary, by Howard P. McKaughan and Batua A. Macaraya

• bele, beele, beale, bealle

From Old French bel, biau, from Latin bellus, from Old Latin *duenelos. Doublet of beau.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛːl/, /ˈbɛl/

bel

1. Of fine quality: good, nice, appealing.
2. Physically appealing; attractive, pretty.

• beaute, bewte

• “bē̆l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-24.

Borrowed from Old Norse bœli.

bel m (plural bels)

1. (Jersey) courtyard, yard, patio
2. (Jersey) farmyard

• bel à balle (“ball court, ball park”)

Named after A. G. Bell.

bel m (definite singular belen, indefinite plural bel, definite plural belane)

1. bel (logarithmic measure of sound pressure)

• desibel

From Old Norse bil.

bel n (definite singular belet, indefinite plural bel, definite plural bela)

1. moment, instant
2. gap, space

• “bel” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• beal (uncommon)
• beau
• biau

From Latin bellus.

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/

bel m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bele)

1. graceful, elegant, courteous
2. noble
3. (as a term of address) good, as in, my good sir, my good lady
   • late 12th century, Aucassin et Nicolette, page 6 of the Mario Roques edition

     Biax sire, fait li quens, car laisciés ester. Nicolete est une caitive que j’amenai d’estrange tere

     Good sir, said the count, let her be. Nicolette is a captive that I've brought here from a foreign land

4. handsome; beautiful

• belement
• biauté
• bellezour

• French: beau
  • → English: beau
• Norman: biau, bieau
• Picard: biau
• Walloon: bea
• → Middle English: beau; bel

• belh

From Latin bellus.

bel m (feminine singular bela, masculine plural bels, feminine plural belas)

1. beautiful

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Syllabification: bel

Internationalism; compare English bel. Ultimately named after Scottish-born inventor, scientist, and engineer Alexander Graham Bell.

bel m inan (abbreviation B)

1. bel

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bel f

1. genitive plural of bela

• bel in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• behld (San Dionisio Ocotepec)

bel

1. (San Pablo Güilá) fish

• Natalie Operstein, Aaron Huey Sonnenschein, Valence Changes in Zapotec: Synchrony, diachrony, typology (2015, →ISBN, page 80

• IPA^(key): /bêːl/

bȇl (definite bȇlī, comparative bèljī, Cyrillic spelling бе̑л)

1. Alternative form of bȅo

From Proto-Slavic *bělъ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰēlHs (“white surface or stain”).

• IPA^(key): /bèːʋ/

bẹ́ł (comparative bȍlj bẹ́ł or belȇjši, superlative nȁjbolj bẹ́ł or nȁjbelȇjši)

1. white

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

• “bel”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

From English belly.

bel

1. abdomen, belly (of a human)
2. underside
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 3:14:

     Na God, Bikpela i tokim snek olsem, “Yu bin mekim dispela pasin nogut, olsem na nau mi gat strongpela tok bilong daunim yu. Bai yu gat bikpela hevi. Hevi yu karim bai i winim hevi bilong olgeta arapela animal. Nau na long olgeta taim bihain bai yu wokabaut long bel bilong yu tasol. Na bai yu kaikai das bilong graun.

     →New International Version translation

3. the fuselage of an airplane.

• bel i hevi/bel hevi
• rausim bel

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛl/

From Ottoman Turkish بل (bel, “waist, loins”), from Proto-Turkic *bẹ̄l(k) (“waist”). Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰋𐰃𐰠 (b²il² /⁠bél⁠/, “waist”).

bel (definite accusative beli, plural beller)

1. waist

From Ottoman Turkish بل (bel, “spade”), variant of بیل (bil), from Persian بیل (bil, “spade”).

bel (definite accusative beli, plural beller)

1. (dated) spade

• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “بل”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 274
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “bel2”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

From Proto-Turkic *bel.

bel

1. mark, sign

• bel etmek

bel (definite accusative beli, plural beller)

1. archaic and dialectal form of pil (“shovel, spade”)

From Proto-Turkic *bẹ̄l (“waist”).

bel (plural bellar)

1. waistline

From Persian بیل (bêl, “spade”).

bel (plural bellar)

1. shovel, spade

Borrowed from German Berg.

bel (nominative plural bels)

1. mountain

From Old Frisian *belle, from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ.

• IPA^(key): /bɛl/

bel c (plural bellen, diminutive beltsje)

1. bell
2. doorbell

• earbel

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

bel

1. flat, wide

• Reconstructing Languages and Cultures: Abstracts and Materials from the First International Interdisciplinary Symposium on Language and Prehistory, Ann Arbor, 8-12 November, 1988