biro

See also: Biro, bíró, birô, Bíro, birō, and -biro

English

Etymology

Genericized trademark of BIRO, named after László Bíró, the inventor of the first commercially succesful ballpoint pen.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪ.ɹəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɹəʊ

Noun

biro (countable and uncountable, plural biros)

1. A Biro brand ballpoint pen.
   • 1945 November and December, Railway Magazine, page v, advertisement:

     Biro MARKS A TURNING POINT IN THE HISTORY OF Writing
     "BIRO" is unique: it writes with a ballpoint — a point that never goes wrong, never floods, bends or splutters — a point that rolls your writing on to the paper with effortless ease. "BIRO" ink dries as you write; you cannot smudge it; you need no blotter. […]
     Retail price 55/- including purchase tax

   • 1993, Iain Banks, Complicity, published 2008, unnumbered page:

     Frank's Biro taps delicately at the topmost of the little yellow notes.

3. (by extension, UK, Commonwealth, Ireland) Any ballpoint pen.
   • 2007, Karen Foxlee, The Anatomy of Wings, page 250:

     Massimo's finger was poised above red on his multi-coloured biro like a kangaroo frozen in headlights.

4. (uncountable, by extension) Ink from a ballpoint pen.
   • 2011, Shannon Lush, Jennifer Fleming, Completely Spotless, unnumbered page:

     ‘My very creative 2-year-old son used my good friend′s white polyester Roman blinds as a canvas,’ says Jacqui. They′re now covered in blue biro. And although my friend isn′t too bothered by the biro, I am! Can you help?′

Translations

ballpoint pen — see ballpoint pen

Further reading

• biro on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• ribo-, brio, robi-

Albanian

Noun

biro

1. vocative of bir (“son”)

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiro/
• Rhymes: -iro
• Syllabification: bi‧ro
• Hyphenation: bi‧ro

Noun

biro (accusative singular biron, plural biroj, accusative plural birojn)

1. (directional) bearing

Iban

Etymology

Borrowed from English bureau.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.ro/

Noun

biro

1. bureau

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from English beer, French bière, German Bier, Italian birra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiro/

Noun

biro (plural biri)

1. beer

   Un glaso di biro, danko. ― One glass of beer, thanks.

Derived terms

• birifar (“to brew, produce beer”)
• biriferio (“brewery”)
• birobarelo (“beer barrel”)
• biroglaso (“beer glass”)

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

biro

Wikipedia ^id

Etymology

From Dutch bureau (“bureau”), from French bureau, from Middle French burel, from Old French burel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.ro/
• Hyphenation: bi‧ro

Noun

biro

1. bureau: office

Alternative forms

• bureau (1901–1947)

Derived terms

• biro hukum
• biro iklan
• biro jodoh
• biro kepegawaian
• biro keuangan
• biro klasifikasi
• biro perencanaan
• biro perjalanan
• biro perlengkapan

Related terms

• birokrasi
• birokrat
• birokratis

Further reading

• “biro”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi.ro/
• Rhymes: -iro
• Hyphenation: bì‧ro

Noun

biro f (invariable)

1. ballpoint pen, biro

   Synonym: penna a sfera

Anagrams

• bori, brio, brio-, orbi

Ngazidja Comorian

Etymology

From French bureau.

Noun

biro class 5 (plural mabiro class 6)

1. office (building or room)

Northern Sami

Etymology

Borrowed from Finnish piru.

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpiro/

Noun

biro

1. devil

Inflection

Even o-stem, no gradation
Nominative	biro
Genitive	biro
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	biro	birot
Accusative	biro	biruid
Genitive	biro	biruid
Illative	birui	biruide
Locative	biros	biruin
Comitative	biruin	biruiguin
Essive	biron
Possessive forms Singular Dual Plural 1st person biron birome biromet 2nd person birot birode birodet 3rd person biros biroska biroset

Further reading

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎, Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Old High German

Verb

biro

1. alternative form of biru

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

bìrō n (Cyrillic spelling бѝро̄)

1. office

   Synonyms: kancelàrija, úred

Tagalog

Etymology

Compare Kapampangan biru and Aklanon bueo.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɾoʔ/ [ˈbiː.ɾoʔ]
• Rhymes: -iɾoʔ
• Syllabification: bi‧ro

Noun

birò (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜇᜓ)

1. joke; jest

   Synonyms: siste, tukso, tudyo

   Naging biro na sa magkaibigan ang pinag-awayan nila dati. ― What the friends had argued about before has become a joke.

2. act of joking with someone

Derived terms

• biro ng tadhana
• birong-totoo
• biru-biruin
• biruan
• biruin
• bumiro
• kabiruan
• mabiro
• magbiro
• magbiruan
• mapagbiro
• pabiro
• pagbibiro
• palabiro

Related terms

• patawa
• lambo

Further reading

• “biro”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “biro”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018.

Yagara

Noun

biro

1. sir (term of address)

References

• Eipper, Christopher, STATEMENT OF THE ORIGIN, CONDITION, AND PROSPECTS, OF THE GERMAN MISSION TO THE ABORIGINES AT MORETON BAY, CONDUCTED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NEW SOUTH WALES, 1841.