Meanings
bey1
plural beys
- historicalA governor of a province or district in the Turkish (e.g. Ottoman) dominions.
She was chaperoned by the widow of a Bey whose son had been at Oxford with him, and this gave him the excuse to exchange a few words with her, and then to be presented to the Princess.
1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 5121 more example
Whether his position with the Third Circle made the difference or the fact that he ranked as a bey, life in El Iskandryia was proving easier than he'd ever dreamed possible when he stepped off the plane.
2005, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Pashazade, page 15 - In various other places, a prince or nobleman.
Bey2
Origin
bey · noun
- Proto-Turkic*bēg“lord”
- Old Anatolian Turkishبك“ruler”
- Ottoman Turkishبك“gentleman, chief”
- Englishbey
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك (bey, “gentleman, chief”), from Old Anatolian Turkish بك (beg, “ruler”), from Proto-Turkic *bēg (“lord”). See there for more.
More words from Ottoman Turkish, Old Anatolian Turkish, Proto-Turkic
Full word history & related roots →Bey · proper noun
- Turkishbey
- Proto-Slavic*bajь
- Lower Sorbianbaj“storyteller”
- EnglishBey
* As a north German and Dutch surname, variant of Beye, Baye, vowel variants of the Danish surname Boye. * Also as a German surname, Germanized from Lower Sorbian baj (“storyteller”), from Proto-Slavic *bajь, related to *bajati (“to tell”). Compare Bay. * As a French surname, from several placenames in France, from a regional variant of bief (“mill-race”). * As an Islamic surname (generally Algeria), from Turkish bey (see Beg). See also Pasha, Agha.
More words from Lower Sorbian, Proto-Slavic, Turkish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بِيه, بِيك
- بِيه (bīh)governor of a Turkish dominion
- بِيك (bīk)governor of a Turkish dominion
- بِك (bik)governor of a Turkish dominion
- بِك (bek)governor of a Turkish dominion
Bengali বেগ
- বেগ (beg)governor of a Turkish dominion
Bulgarian бей
- бей (bej)governor of a Turkish dominion
Catalan bei
- beigovernor of a Turkish dominion
Chinese Mandarin 貝伊 /贝伊, 巴依
- 貝伊 /贝伊 (bèiyī)governor of a Turkish dominion
- 巴依 (bāyī)governor of a Turkish dominion
Finnish bey
- beygovernor of a Turkish dominion
French bey
- beygovernor of a Turkish dominion
German Bey, Bei
- Beygovernor of a Turkish dominion
- Beigovernor of a Turkish dominion
- Beggovernor of a Turkish dominion
Greek μπέης, βέης
- μπέης (béis)governor of a Turkish dominion
- βέης (véis)governor of a Turkish dominion
Hindi बेग
- बेग (beg)governor of a Turkish dominion
Hungarian bég, bej
- béggovernor of a Turkish dominion
- bejgovernor of a Turkish dominion
Indonesian bey
- beygovernor of a Turkish dominion
Japanese ベグ
- ベグ (begu)governor of a Turkish dominion
Persian بگ
- بگ (beg)governor of a Turkish dominion
Portuguese bei
- beigovernor of a Turkish dominion
Russian бей, бек
- бей (bej)governor of a Turkish dominion
- бек (bek)governor of a Turkish dominion
Spanish bey
- beygovernor of a Turkish dominion
Turkish bey
- beygovernor of a Turkish dominion
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bey
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
bey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bey
“bey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bey. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bey,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bey.
Source: bey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.