different between buy vs buys

English

Etymology

From Middle English bien, biggen, buggen, from Old English byc?an (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjan? (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *b??g?- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *b?eug?- (“to take away, deliver”).

Cognate with Scots by (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to procure a wife, lend at interest, let out”), Gothic ???????????????????????? (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /a?/ is from the East Midlands.

Pronunciation

• enPR: b?, IPA^(key): /ba?/
• Rhymes: -a?
• Homophones: bi, bye, by

Verb

buy (third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buying, simple past bought, past participle bought or (rare, dialectal) boughten)

1. (transitive) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods
   • 1793, Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography

     Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou wilt sell thy necessaries.

2. (transitive) To obtain, especially by some sacrifice.
3. (transitive) To bribe.

4. (transitive) To be equivalent to in value.

5. (transitive, informal) to accept as true; to believe

6. (intransitive) To make a purchase or purchases, to treat (for a drink, meal or gift)

7. (poker slang, transitive) To make a bluff, usually a large one.

Alternative forms

• buie (archaic)

Synonyms

• (obtain in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), purchase
• (accept as true): accept, believe, swallow (informal), take on
• ((intransitive) make a purchase): make a buy

Antonyms

• (obtain in exchange for money): cheap (obsolete), sell, vend
• (accept as true): disbelieve, reject, pitch

Derived terms

Related terms

• aby

Translations

Noun

buy (plural buys)

1. Something which is bought; a purchase.

Antonyms

• sale

Derived terms

• buydown
• buyout
• impulse buy

Translations

References

• buy in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• buy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• BYU

Tatar

Noun

buy

1. length

Wolof

Noun

buy

1. A baobab fruit.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba?z/
• Rhymes: -a?z

Noun

buys

1. plural of buy

Verb

buys

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of buy

Anagrams

• busy