ben
Inner, interior.
Adjective
- Inner, interior.
Origin
From Middle English ben, bene, variation of bin, binne (“within”), from Old English binnan (“within, in, inside of, into”), equivalent to be- + in.
Forms
Derived
Adjective UK, alt of
- Alternative spelling of bene; good.
- A gage of ben Rom-bouse, / In a bousing-ken of Rom-vile, / Is benar than a Caster, / Pecke, pennam, lay, or popler, / Which we mill in deuse a vile. - 1611, Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girle:
Origin
c. 16th century. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.
Forms
Derived
Adverb
- Inside.
Noun Entry 4
- A tree, Moringa oleifera or horseradish tree of Arabia and India, which produces oil of ben.
- The winged seed of the ben tree.
- The oil of the ben seed.
Origin
From Middle English been, from Old French and Medieval Latin, probably from a North African pronunciation of Arabic بَان (bān, “ben tree”).
Forms
Synonyms
Derived
Noun obsolete
- A prayer; a petition.
Origin
From Middle English ben, bene, from Old English bēn (“prayer, request, favor, compulsory service”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōni, from Proto-Germanic *bōniz (“supplication”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say”). Related to ban. More at boon.
Forms
Noun Northern England, Scotland
- The inner room of a two-room cottage (as opposed to the but); the ben room.
- Bert Kerston was awakened by a steady tap on the ben window. - 1972, George Mackay Brown, Greenvoe, Polygon, published 2019, page 25:
Forms
Derived
Noun capitalized, uncountable
- Son of (used with Hebrew and Arabic surnames).
Origin
From Arabic بِن (bin) and Hebrew בן (ben, “son”).
Forms
Derived
Noun Entry 8
- A Scottish or Irish mountain or high peak.
Origin
Borrowed from Scots ben, benn, from Scottish Gaelic beinn.
Forms
Derived
Noun entertainment, lifestyle
- A benefit (performance to raise funds).
- In the Chronicles of the Stage, some curious particulars are given relating to Sir Henry Herbert and the well-known Sir William Davidson, by which we learn, amongst other things, that a “ben” or benefit at Drury Lane,...
Origin
Shortening.
Forms
Noun Ireland, alt of
- Alternative form of bin.
Forms
Related
Preposition
- In, into.
- And he was waving to me to creep in, so I just did and then just to skip ben the front and then in the lobby. - 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 32: