different between better vs fix

English

Pronunciation

• (non-rhotic accents) IPA^(key): /?b?t?/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [?b?t??]
  • (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): [?be??]
  • (UK dialects) IPA^(key): [?be??]
• (rhotic accents) IPA^(key): /?b?t??/
  • (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): [?b???]
  • (Ireland) IPA^(key): [?b?t??~?b????~?b?t??]
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): [?b???~?b????]
• (US)
• Rhymes: -?t?(?)
• Hyphenation: bet?ter

Etymology 1

From Middle English better, bettre, betre, from Old English betera (“better”), from Proto-Germanic *batizô (“better”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?ed-rós, from *b?ed- (“good”). Cognate with Sanskrit ???? (bhadrá, “blessed, fortunate, happy, good”). For Germanic cognates: see Proto-Germanic *batizô. Related to best and battle (“getting better, improving, fruitful, fertile”). Compare also Icelandic batna (“to improve”), bót (“improvement”), German besser. More at batten, boot.

Adjective

better (positive good, adverb well, comparative (humorous) betterer, superlative (humorous) betterest, or (standard) best)

1. comparative form of good: more good
2. comparative form of well: more well
3. Greater in amount or quantity
   • 1972, Harvey Andrews, Hey Sandy

     “The air was still with the lonely thrill of 'now the hour is near'
     And the smell of sweat was better yet than the awful stench of fear.”

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

better

1. comparative form of well: more well

   The engine runs better now that I've given it some oil.

   • c. 1603, William Shakespeare, Othello, Act I scene iii^[1]:

     I could never better stead thee than now. […]

   • 1901, Louis Couperus, Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (translator), Small Souls,

     “I’ve had enough of cycling with you chaps. I can spend my Sundays better than in tormenting cats and quarrelling and fighting.”

2. Greater or lesser (whichever is seen as more advantageous), in reference to value, distance, time, etc.

   The top electric vehicles have a range of 300 kilometres or better. (better = greater)

   Only one swimmer finished the race with a time better than two minutes. (better = lesser)

3. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (colloquial shortening) Had better.

   You better do that if you know what's good for you.

Derived terms

• better the devil you know
• had better
• 'd better

Translations

Noun

better (plural betters)

1. An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior.

   He quickly found Ali his better in the ring.

   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     Their betters would hardly be found.

Derived terms

• get the better of

Etymology 2

Shortening of had better ('d better)

Verb

better

1. (modal, auxiliary verb, colloquial) Had better.

   It's getting late. You better get on home.

Usage notes

• Better in this sense has often been considered an adverb. But it is virtually synonymous with should in We better be going. and with ought to in We better go. Should and ought are auxiliary verbs.

See also

• best

Etymology 3

From Middle English beteren, from Old English beterian, betrian, from Proto-Germanic *batiz?n?. Cognate with West Frisian betterje (“to better”), Dutch beteren (“to better”), German bessern (“to better”), Danish bedre (“to better”), Swedish bättra (“to better”).

Verb

better (third-person singular simple present betters, present participle bettering, simple past and past participle bettered)

1. (transitive) To improve.
   • 1815, William Wordsworth, From the same (To the Supreme Being)

     Love betters what is best.

   • He thought to better his circumstances.
2. (intransitive) To become better; to improve.

   This government will better this society

3. (transitive) To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     The works of nature do always aim at that which can not be bettered.

4. (transitive) To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:improve

Derived terms

• betterer
• betterment

Translations

Etymology 4

Alternate pronunciation of bettor or modern formation from the verb to bet.

Noun

better (plural betters)

1. Alternative spelling of bettor

References

• better at OneLook Dictionary Search
• better in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• botter, bötter (Eifel)

Etymology

From Old High German bittar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bet?/

Adjective

better (masculine bettere, feminine better, comparative betterer, superlative et betterste)

1. (most dialects) bitter

   Proverb:

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English betere.

Adjective

better

1. Alternative form of bettre

Adverb

better

1. Alternative form of bettre

Noun

better

1. Alternative form of bettre

Etymology 2

From Old English beterian.

Verb

better

1. Alternative form of beteren

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English bettre, from Old English betera, from Proto-Germanic *batizô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?b?t?r]

Adjective

better

1. comparative degree of guid

Derived terms

Adverb

better (comparative mair better, superlative maist better)

1. better
2. quite recovered from illness
3. more than

Noun

better (uncountable)

1. that which is better, something better or superior

Verb

better (third-person singular present betters, present participle betterin, past bettert, past participle bettert)

1. to better, improve

West Frisian

Adjective

better

1. inflection of goed:
   1. predicative comparative degree
   2. indefinite neuter singular comparative degree

English

Etymology

From Middle English fixen, borrowed from Old French *fixer (attested only as ficher, fichier; > English fitch), from fixe (“fastened; fixed”), from Latin f?xus (“immovable; steady; stable; fixed”), from f?gere (“to drive in; stick; fasten”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?eyg?- (“to jab; stick; set”). Related to dig.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?f?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks

Verb

fix (third-person singular simple present fixes, present participle fixing, simple past and past participle fixt or fixed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To pierce; now generally replaced by transfix.
   1. (transitive, by extension) (Of a piercing look) to direct at someone.
2. (transitive) To attach; to affix; to hold in place or at a particular time.
   1. (transitive, figuratively, usually in the passive) To focus or determine (oneself, on a concept); to fixate.

3. (transitive) To mend, to repair.

4. (transitive, informal) To prepare (food or drink).
5. (transitive) To make (a contest, vote, or gamble) unfair; to privilege one contestant or a particular group of contestants, usually before the contest begins; to arrange immunity for defendants by tampering with the justice system via bribery or extortion

6. (transitive, US, informal) To surgically render an animal, especially a pet, infertile.

7. (transitive, mathematics, sematics) To map a (point or subset) to itself.
8. (transitive, informal) To take revenge on, to best; to serve justice on an assumed miscreant.

9. (transitive) To render (a photographic impression) permanent by treating with such applications as will make it insensitive to the action of light.
11. (transitive, chemistry, biology) To convert into a stable or available form.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Abney to this entry?)

12. (intransitive) To become fixed; to settle or remain permanently; to cease from wandering; to rest.
    • 1665, Edmund Waller, “Upon Her Maiesties New Buildings at Somerset-House”:

      Accu?ing ?ome malignant Star,
      Not Britain, for that fateful War,
      Your kindne?s bani?hes your fear,
      Re?olv’d to fix for ever here.

    • 1801, Robert Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer:

      A cheerless place! the solitary Bee,
      Whose buzzing was the only sound of life,
      Flew there on restless wing,
      Seeking in vain one blossom, where to fix.

13. (intransitive) To become firm, so as to resist volatilization; to cease to flow or be fluid; to congeal; to become hard and malleable, as a metallic substance.

    • quicksilver will 'fix, so asto endure the hammer

Alternative forms

• fixe (archaic)

Synonyms

• (pierce): impale, run through, stick
• (hold in place): join, put together, unite; see also Thesaurus:join
• (mend; repair): patch, put to rights, rectify; see also Thesaurus:repair
• (make a contest unfair): doctor, rig
• (render infertile): neuter, spay, desex, castrate
• (settle or remain permanently): establish, settle down

Antonyms

• (to hold in place): move, change

Derived terms

• affix, affixative, fixed
• fixings, fixity, fixety
• fix someone's wagon, fix someone up with

Descendants

• ? Dutch: fixen, fiksen

Translations

Noun

fix (plural fixes)

1. A repair or corrective action.

   Hyponyms: bugfix, technofix

2. A difficult situation; a quandary or dilemma; a predicament.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:difficult situation

3. (informal) A single dose of an addictive drug administered to a drug user.
4. A prearrangement of the outcome of a supposedly competitive process, such as a sporting event, a game, an election, a trial, or a bid.
5. A determination of location.

6. (US) fettlings (mixture used to line a furnace)

Descendants

• ? French: fixe, fix

Translations

References

Further reading

• fix on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Bouyei

Etymology

From Proto-Tai *w?j? (“fire”). Cognate with Thai ?? (fai), Northern Thai ?? (fai), Lao ?? (fai), Lü ?? (fay), Tai Dam ??, Shan ??? (pháy) or ??? (fáy), Tai Nüa ??? (fäy), Zhuang feiz, Saek ???.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi??/

Noun

fix

1. fire

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fixus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?fiks/
• Rhymes: -iks

Adjective

fix (feminine fixa, masculine plural fixos, feminine plural fixes)

1. fixed, not changing
2. stationary

Derived terms

• fixar
• telefonia fixa

Further reading

• “fix” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?f?ks]
• Rhymes: -?ks

Noun

fix m

1. felt-tip pen, marker

Synonyms

• popisova?

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

fix

1. first-person singular present indicative of fixen
2. imperative of fixen

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiks/
• Homophone: fixe

Noun

fix m (plural fix)

1. Alternative spelling of fixe

German

Etymology

Latin f?xus

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [f?ks]
• Homophone: Ficks

Adjective

fix (comparative fixer, superlative am fixesten)

1. fixed (costs, salary)

   Synonym: fest

2. quick

   Synonym: schnell

3. smart

   Synonym: aufgeweckt

Declension

Descendants

• ? Hungarian: fix

See also

• fix und fertig

Hungarian

Etymology

From German fix, from French fixe, from Latin figere, fixus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?fiks]
• Rhymes: -iks

Adjective

fix (not comparable)

1. fixed, steady

   Synonyms: rögzített, megszabott

2. immovable

   Synonym: szilárd

3. sure, certain

   Synonyms: biztos, bizonyos

Declension

Derived terms

(Compound words):

• fixpont

(Expressions):

• fix objektív

Noun

fix

1. a steady salary

Declension

References

Old French

Alternative forms

• fils, fis, fiz

Noun

fix m

1. inflection of fil:
   1. oblique plural
   2. nominative singular

Romanian

Etymology

From French fixe, from Latin fixus.

Adjective

fix m or n (feminine singular fix?, masculine plural fic?i, feminine and neuter plural fixe)

1. fixed

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

• Homophone: ficks

Adjective

fix

1. fixed, inflexible, rigid

   en fix idé

   a fixed idea

Declension

Related terms

• fixstjärna

Noun

fix c

1. a fix, a dose of an addictive drug

Declension