buy - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (2024)

From Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”).

Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch beugen (“to buy”), Old Saxon buggian, buggean (“to buy”), Old Norse byggja (“to build, settle”), Gothic 𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bugjan, “to buy”). The spelling with “u” is from the Southwest, while the pronunciation with /aɪ/ is from the East Midlands.

• enPR: bī, IPA^(key): /baɪ/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (UK):

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• Rhymes: -aɪ
• hom*ophones: bi, bye, by

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

1. (transitive, ditransitive) To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods.

   I'm going to buy my father something nice for his birthday.

   • 1793, Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography:

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

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

   I've bought material comfort by foregoing my dreams.

   You just bought yourself an assault charge!

   • 1611, The Holy Bible,[…] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker,[…], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:23:

     Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

3. (transitive, archaic) To suffer consequences for (something) through being deprived of something; to pay for (something one has done).

   • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw[…], Act I:

     VVhat villaine, doſt ſtrike me? I ſweare by the rood,
     As I am Iacke Strawe, thou ſhalt buy it with thy blood.

4. (transitive) To bribe.

   He tried to buy me with gifts, but I wouldn't give up my beliefs.

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

   The dollar doesn't buy as much as it used to.

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

   I'm not going to buy your stupid excuses anymore!

   • 2020, Akwaeke Emezi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Faber & Faber Ltd, page 201:

     People like to say that dead people look asleep, and maybe she would have bought that under different circ*mstances.

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

   She buys for Federated.

   Let's go out for dinner. I'm buying.

   See Also

   The Artisanal Advantage in Solar: Buy Nice or Buy Twice — Sugar Hollow SolarBuy, By, Bye—Definitions and ExamplesWord Choice: Buy, Bye or By? | Proofed's Writing TipsDid you buy? vs. Have you bought? | Britannica Dictionary

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

   Smith tried to buy the pot on the river with a huge bluff.

• buie (archaic)

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

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

Terms derived from buy (verb)

• aby

• Sranan Tongo: bai
• Tok Pisin: baim

buy (plural buys)

2. Something which is bought; a purchase.

   At only $30, the second-hand kitchen table was a great buy.

• sale

• buy boat
• buydown
• buyout
• buyrate
• impulse buy

• “buy”, in The Century Dictionary[…], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “buy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• BYU

From English buy.

buy

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to accept (an idea)

   • 2001, 尋秦記 [A Step into the Past], episode 1, spoken by 麥偉健 (麥長青 [Evergreen Mak Cheung-ching]):

     收聲呀，我唔buy你呀。 [Hong Kong Cantonese, trad.]
     收声呀，我唔buy你呀。 [Hong Kong Cantonese, simp.]

     sau¹ seng¹ aa³, ngo⁵ m⁴ baai¹ nei⁵ aa³. [Jyutping]

     Shut up. I'm not buying your [suggestion].

• beh (Dundee)

From Old English bycgan

• IPA^(key): (unstressed) [bəi], (stressed) [baɪ]

buy (third-person singular simple present buys, present participle buyin, simple past bocht, past participle bocht)

1. buy

buy

1. length

Related to guy (“baobab tree”).

buy (definite form buy bi)

1. baobab fruit
2. sweet drink made of this fruit by adding water, sugar, milk, and other ingredients