bem

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bem"

Translingual

Symbol

bem

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

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Bemba terms

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• Baaum, baum, böim

Etymology

From Old High German boum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz. Cognate with German Baum, Dutch boom, English beam.

Noun

bem m

1. (Rimella and Campello Monti) tree

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Indo-Portuguese

Etymology

From Portuguese bem (“well; very”), from Old Galician-Portuguese ben, from Latin bene (“well”).

Adverb

bem

1. very (to a high degree)
   • 1883, Hugo Schuchardt, Kreolische Studien, volume 3:

     Trasê tamêm um vaquinh bem gord e matá par nós comê e par nós regalá:

     Bring also a small and very fat cow and kill (it) for us to eat and for us to feast on:

Middle English

Noun

bem

1. alternative form of beem

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʲeβ̃/

Verb

·bem

1. first-person plural present subjunctive conjunct of at·tá

Mutation

Mutation of ·bem

radical	lenition	nasalization
·bem	·bem pronounced with /βʲ-/	·mbem

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• bẽ (obsolete, abbreviation)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese ben, from Latin bene (“well”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbẽj̃/ [ˈbẽɪ̯̃]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɐ̃j̃/

• (São Miguel, Azores) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ̃/

• Audio (Brazil):

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• Audio (Brazil (São Paulo)):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Homophone: (Northern Portugal) vem
• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ẽj̃, (Portugal) -ɐ̃j̃
• Hyphenation: bem

Adverb

bem (comparable, comparative melhor or mais bem, superlative o melhor or o mais bem)

2. (comparable with mais bem or melhor; see notes) well; accurately; competently

   Antonym: mal

   Este filme foi muito bem produzido. ― This film was produced very well.

3. (not comparable) well; fairly; rather (to a significant degree)

   Ele entrou no hospital com uma ferida bem ruim. ― He got into the hospital with a rather nasty wound.

4. (familiar, not comparable) very; really (to a high degree)

   Synonyms: assaz, bastante, muito

   Antonyms: pouco, um pouco

   Vai embora que eu estou bem bravo. ― Go away ’cause I’m really angry.

   • 2007, Rubens Edwald Filho, Nilu Lebert, O cinema vai à mesa, Editora Melhoramentos, →ISBN, page 31:

     […] o sômen é bem fininho, quase um cabelo-de-anjo japonês […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. (comparable with melhor) well; all right; fine; OK (healthy; not wounded or sick)

   Antonym: mal

   Estou bem, podemos continuar. ― I’m fine, we can go on.

   Ele não está bem da cabeça. ― He’s not right in the head.

6. (comparable with melhor) well; all right; fine; OK (feeling good)

   Antonym: mal

   Faz tempo que não a vejo. Ela está bem? ― I haven’t seen her in a long time. Is she all right?

7. (comparable with melhor) fairly; justly (in a fair manner)

   Antonym: mal

   O juiz fez bem em condená-los. ― The judge acted fairly in convicting them.

8. (not comparable) (Brazil) exactly; right on

   Chegaram bem na hora. ― They arrived right on time.

Usage notes

The comparative of adverb, sense 1 is prescriptively mais bem; melhor is frequently used, but considered incorrect by prescriptive grammarians. Compare the two sentences:

Este filme é mais bem produzido do que aquele. (prescriptive) ― This film is better produced than that one. (literally, “more well-produced”)

Este filme é melhor produzido do que aquele. (proscribed) ― This film is better produced than that one.

Derived terms

• bem-fazer
• bem-vindo
• parabéns
• tudo bem

Related terms

• benfeitor
• bom
• também

Interjection

bem

1. Used to express approval.

   Synonym: bravo

2. well (used to introduce a new sentence, idea or line of thought)

   Bem, eu vou ficar aqui. ― Well, I’m staying here.

Noun

bem m (countable and uncountable, plural bens)

1. (chiefly narratology, uncountable, with definite article) good (the ensemble of forces that conspire for good, as opposed to evil)

   Antonym: mal

   Mais um conto sobre a luta do bem contra o mal. ― Yet another tale about the fight between good and evil.

2. (uncountable) good; well-being

   Pode ser que você não goste, mas é para o seu bem. ― You may not like it, but it’s for your own good.

3. (countable) a good deed

   Antonym: mal

   Fazer o bem não custa nada. ― It costs nothing to do the right thing.

   Hoje eu fiz um bem: ajudei uma velhinha a atravessar a rua. ― Today I did a good deed: I helped an old lady cross the street.

4. (countable) good; property (item that is owned by a person)

   Synonym: propriedade

   Ele faliu e teve que vender quase todos os seus bens. ― He went bankrupt and had to sell most of his goods.

   • 2007, Márcia Tolotti, As Armadilhas do Consumo, Elsevier Brasil, →ISBN, page 51:

     Isso ocorre quando a falta ou a escassez de bens materiais representa um autodesprezo e uma prova de inferioridade.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

5. (countable, usually with a possessive pronoun) darling; dear (term of address for a loved one)

   Synonyms: querido, bem-querer, amor

   Você vem conosco, meu bem?

   Are you coming with us, my dear?

Further reading

• “bem”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “bem”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bem]

Verb

bem

1. first-person plural present indicative/subjunctive of bea

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛm˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɛm˧˧]

Verb

bem

1. (colloquial) to beat; to give a beating

   Synonyms: đập, đánh, quýnh, uýnh, bụp, choảng

   Hôm qua tụi nó bem nhau, giờ nằm viện hết rồi.

   Yesterday, they fought each other for some reason, now they're both at the hospital.

Volapük

Noun

bem (nominative plural bems)

1. beam (object)
   • 1952, Arie de Jong, Diatek nulik: Gospul ma ‚Matthaeus’. Kapit: VII:

     E kis-li? Logol cipi in log bloda olik, e bemi in log olik no küpol!

     Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the great log in your own?

Declension

Declension of bem

	singular	plural
nominative	bem	bems
genitive	bema	bemas
dative	beme	bemes
accusative	bemi	bemis
vocative 1	o bem!	o bems!
predicative 2	bemu	bemus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only