Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on. · Engaged with or preoccupied by an activity or person. · Having much work to do; having much to get done. · Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate.
From Middle English bisy, busie, from Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”), Dutch bezig (“busy”), Low German besig (“busy”). The spelling with ⟨u⟩ represents the pronunciation of the West Midland and Southern dialects while the Modern English pronunciation with /ɪ/ is from the dialects of the East Midlands.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
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Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "bisy"
},
"expansion": "Middle English bisy"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "bisiġ",
"t": "busy, occupied, diligent"
},
"expansion": "Old English bisiġ (“busy, occupied, diligent”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*bisīg",
"t": "diligent; zealous; busy"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *bisīg (“diligent; zealous; busy”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "stq",
"2": "biesich",
"t": "active, diligent, hard-working, industrious"
},
"expansion": "Saterland Frisian biesich (“active, diligent, hard-working, industrious”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "bezig",
"t": "busy"
},
"expansion": "Dutch bezig (“busy”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds",
"2": "besig",
"t": "busy"
},
"expansion": "Low German besig (“busy”)"
}
],
"links": [
[
"bisy",
"bisy#Middle_English"
],
[
"busie",
"busie#Middle_English"
],
[
"bisiġ",
"bisig#Old_English"
],
[
"*bisīg",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/bisīg"
],
[
"biesich",
"biesich#Saterland_Frisian"
],
[
"bezig",
"bezig#Dutch"
],
[
"besig",
"besig#Low_German"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Tok Pisin",
"lang_code": "tpi",
"word": "bisi"
},
{
"lang": "Italian",
"lang_code": "it",
"word": "busy",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "adj",
"glosses": [
"Crowded with business or activities; having a great deal going on.",
"Engaged with or preoccupied by an activity or person.",
"Having much work to do; having much to get done.",
"Having a lot going on; complicated or intricate."
],
"tags": [],
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