different between beag vs beam

English

Etymology

From Old English b?ag (“a ring, bracelet, collar, garland, crown, necklace, a shackle for the neck, a circle, coil”), from Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?ewg?- (“to bend”). Cognate with dialectal German Baug (“ring, collar”), Icelandic baugur (“ring, circle”). Related to bagel.

Noun

beag (plural beags)

1. (historical) A ring.
   • 1878, Royal Numismatic Society (Great Britain), The Numismatic chronicle and journal of the Numismatic Society:

     It was a mark of nobility among the German races — by some considered the origin of our coronets — and had even about it a quasi-religious character in memory of the "holy beag" (holy ring), the oath upon which was tantamount to the oath upon Thorr's hammer.

   • 1970, William A. Chaney, The cult of kingship in Anglo-Saxon England:

     [...] and the description of that monarch in his anonymous Vita as coronatus lauro probably indicates a beag which was lighter than the formal diadema.

Anagrams

• Bega, Gabe, bega

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish bec (“small, little”) (compare Manx beg, Scottish Gaelic beag), from Proto-Celtic *bikkos (“small”) (compare Breton bihan and Welsh bach, bychan).

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /b???/
• (Aran) IPA^(key): /b???/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /b???/

Adjective

beag (genitive singular masculine big, genitive singular feminine bige, plural beaga, comparative lú)

1. small, little
   1. (size, amount, extent, degree)
   2. junior, lesser, minor
   3. (hypocoristic)
   4. (deprecatory)
   5. (of late, recent, time)
2. few (often with a singular noun in Irish)

Declension

Derived terms

Noun

beag m (genitive singular big, nominative plural beaganna)

1. little; small amount
2. (with copula) few

Declension

Mutation

References

• "beag" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “bec”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Entries containing “beag” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “beag” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Old English

Alternative forms

• b?ah

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring”), from *beugan? (“to bend”). Cognate with Old High German bouc, Old Norse baugr. Compare Old English b?gan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæ????/, [bæ????]

Noun

b?ag m

1. ring, arm-ring, bracelet

Declension

Derived terms

• healsb?ag m (“necklace”)

Descendants

• Middle English: beigh, bei?, b?, bi?, by
  • English: bee

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish bec (“small, little”) (compare Manx beg, Irish beag), from Proto-Celtic *bikkos (“small”) (compare Breton bic’han and Welsh bach, bychan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pek/, /pik/

Adjective

beag (genitive singular masculine big, genitive singular feminine bige, nominative plural beaga, comparative bige)

1. small, little, short, diminutive

2. disagreeable

3. light, trifling, insignificant

4. young

5. sordid, miserly, niggardly

Declension

Synonyms

• bìodach
• mean
• meanbh
• mion

Derived terms

Mutation

References

• “beag” in Edward Dwelly, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic–English Dictionary, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 1911, ?ISBN.
• A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (John Grant, Edinburgh, 1925, Compiled by Malcolm MacLennan)
• Gregory Toner, Maire Ní Mhaonaigh, Sharon Arbuthnot, Dagmar Wodtko, Maire-Luise Theuerkauf, editors (2019) , “bec”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

English

Etymology

From Middle English beem, from Old English b?am (“tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood, beam, splint, post, stock, rafter, piece of wood”), from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, beam, balk”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?ew- (“to grow, swell”). Cognate with West Frisian beam (“tree”), Saterland Frisian Boom (“tree”), Dutch boom (“tree”), German Low German Boom (“tree”), German Baum (“tree”), Luxembourgish Bam (“tree”), Albanian bimë (“a plant”). Doublet of boom.

The verb is from Middle English bemen, from Old English b?amian (“to shine, to cast forth rays or beams of light”), from the noun.

Pronunciation

• enPR: b?m, IPA^(key): /bi?m/
• Rhymes: -i?m

Noun

beam (plural beams)

1. Any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use.

   • And a letter vnto Asaph the keeper of the kings forrest, that he may giue me timber to make beames for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the Citie, and for the house that I shall enter into: And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God vpon me.

2. One of the principal horizontal structural members, usually of timber or concrete, of a building; one of the transverse members of a ship's frame on which the decks are laid — supported at the sides by knees in wooden ships and by stringers in steel ones.
   • 1905, Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle

     Lucie opened the door: and what do you think there was inside the hill?—a nice clean kitchen with a flagged floor and wooden beams—just like any other farm kitchen.

3. (nautical) The maximum width of a vessel (note that a vessel with a beam of 15 foot can also be said to be 15 foot abeam)

   Synonym: breadth

   • 1892, Sydney Marow Eardley-Wilmot, The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century Chapter 7

     Being only 280 ft. long, with a beam of 66 ft, their speed is moderate, and for a long time difficulty was experienced in steering them.

4. The crossbar of a mechanical balance, from the ends of which the scales are suspended.
5. The principal stem of the antler of a deer.
6. (literary) The pole of a carriage or chariot.
8. (textiles) A cylinder of wood, making part of a loom, on which weavers wind the warp before weaving and the cylinder on which the cloth is rolled, as it is woven.
9. The straight part or shank of an anchor.
10. The central bar of a plow, to which the handles and colter are secured, and to the end of which are attached the oxen or horses that draw it.
11. In steam engines, a heavy iron lever having an oscillating motion on a central axis, one end of which is connected with the piston rod from which it receives motion, and the other with the crank of the wheel shaft.

    Synonyms: working beam, walking beam

12. A ray or collection of approximately parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body.

    a beam of light

    a beam of energy
13. (figuratively) A ray; a gleam.

    a beam of hope, or of comfort
14. One of the long feathers in the wing of a hawk.

    Synonym: beam feather

15. (music) A horizontal bar which connects the stems of two or more notes to group them and to indicate metric value.
16. (railway) An elevated rectangular dirt pile used to cheaply build an elevated portion of a railway.

Hyponyms

• (textiles): fore beam, back beam

See also

• Thesaurus:stick

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

beam (third-person singular simple present beams, present participle beaming, simple past and past participle beamed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To emit beams of light; shine; radiate.

   to beam forth light

2. (intransitive, figuratively) To smile broadly or especially cheerfully.
3. (transitive) To furnish or supply with beams
4. (transitive) To give the appearance of beams to.
5. (transitive, science fiction) To transmit matter or information via a high-tech wireless mechanism.

   Beam me up, Scotty; there's no intelligent life down here.

   The injured crewmembers were immediately beamed to sickbay.

6. (transitive, currying) To stretch something (for example an animal hide) on a beam.
7. (transitive, weaving) To put (something) on a beam
8. (transitive, music) To connect (musical notes) with a beam, or thick line, in music notation.

Translations

Anagrams

• BAME, Bame, Mabe, ambe, bema, mabe

German

Verb

beam

1. singular imperative of beamen

Old English

Alternative forms

• beom

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *baum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæ???m/

Noun

b?am m (nominative plural b?amas)

1. tree

   Synonyms: tr?ow, wudu

2. beam of wood

   Synonym: bord

   1. gallows, gibbet (hanging device with a crossbeam)

      Synonym: ?ealga

   2. (by extension) the Cross
      • Codex Vercillensis

Declension

Derived terms

• si?eb?am

Descendants

• Middle English: beem
  • Scots: beme
  • English: beam
    • ? German: beamen
    • ? Japanese: ???

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [be?am]

Verb

beam

1. first-person singular imperfect indicative of bea
2. first-person plural imperfect indicative of bea

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian b?m, from Proto-West Germanic *baum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b???m/

Noun

beam c (plural beammen, diminutive beamke)

1. tree

Derived terms

• hefbeam

Further reading

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