Meanings
by-1
by-2
alternative bye-
- Near or roundabout.
bystander, bypass
- Secondary, incidental, or parallel to.
by-product, byform, by-path, by-book
Origin
by- · prefix
- Proto-Germanic*būwiz“dwelling”
- Old Norsebýr“dwelling, town”
- North Germanic
- Middle Englishby“town”
- Englishby-
From Middle English by (“town”), of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse býr (“dwelling, town”), from Proto-Germanic *būwiz (“dwelling”). Cognate with Danish by (“town”). More at bower.
More words from Middle English, North Germanic, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →by- · prefix
- Proto-Germanic*bi-
- Old Englishbī-“by, near, around”
- Middle Englishbi-
- Englishby-
Partly from a combining form of by (“by, near, around”), and partly continuing Middle English bi-, by-, from Old English bī- (“by, near, around”), from Proto-Germanic *bi-, whence also be-. Cognate with Dutch bij-, German bei-.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Hungarian (roundaboutness) kerülő-, melletti
- (roundaboutness) kerülő-nearness or roundaboutness
- mellettinearness or roundaboutness
- közelinearness or roundaboutness
- mellék-secondary, incidental, or parallel to
- mellékessecondary, incidental, or parallel to
- másodlagossecondary, incidental, or parallel to
- köztessecondary, incidental, or parallel to
- időközisecondary, incidental, or parallel to
Swedish bi-
- bi-secondary, incidental, or parallel to
Cite this entry
by-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-
“by-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by-,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by-.
Source: by- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.