Meanings
- uncountableThe act of purchasing materials for a project (typically a home renovation) and then hiring a professional to use them.
It is less DIY, however, than BIY: Buy-it-Yourself.
2009 August 27, “Orient Homes chief Li Fengjiang tools up for China's DIY revolution”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Nov 20223 more examples
UBM, which has 120 fully‐stocked branches around Britain, sees a growing demand for what it calls the B.I.Y. (buy-it-yourself) market of self‐contractors who select their components and then pay a tradesman for installation.
1978 April 23, Stephen Kindel, “Split‐Level Sprawl in Europe”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2018BIY is where consumers buy the materials for professionals to fit. "According to the Polycell Report, from Reed's Polycell Products, DIY is being replaced by BIY (Buy-it-yourself),"
1987 April 10, MarketingB&Q has been learning lessons in China from the moment it opened its first store in 1999. People here prefer the term BIY - buy it yourself, and then employ labour to do the work for them.
[2001 August 9, John Cassy, “B&Q moves in with its China ware”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 May 2014
Origin
Initialism of buy it yourself, inspired by DIY.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
BIY. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/BIY
“BIY.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/BIY. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “BIY,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/BIY.
Source: BIY on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.