bead

Meaning

Noun

1. (archaic) Prayer, later especially with a rosary.
2. Each in a string of small balls making up the rosary or paternoster.
3. A small, round object.
4. A small, round object.
5. A small, round object.
6. A small, round object.
7. A small, round object.
8. (broadly) A small, round object.
9. A ridge, band, or molding.
10. A ridge, band, or molding.
11. (dated, physical) A glassy drop of molten flux, as borax or microcosmic salt, used as a solvent and color test for several mineral earths and oxides, as of iron, manganese, etc., before the blowpipe.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To form into a bead.
2. (transitive) To apply beads to.
3. (transitive) To form into a bead.
4. (transitive) To cause beads to form on (something).

Synonyms

pearl

drop

beading

astragal

globule

beadwork

necklace

grain

droplet

💧

beads

weld bead

blob

glass bead

drip

layering

minim

nit

pea

pellet

pill

💊

prayer

rosary

seed

sequin

string

🪢

sweat

😓

weld

welded joint

welded seam

muck bar

small ball

welding seam

weld joint

fruit

single bead

hold-down strip

mound layer

bead moulding

brake bead

beaded glass

ball

beauty

bolus

bugle

collar

drib

dribble

driblet

form

gem

💎

Translations

perle

cuenta

🔢

Perle

abalorio

kraal

perlina

conta

χάντρα

grano

perla

miçanga

parel

gota

goccia

Pronounced as (IPA)

/biːd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bede

Cognate with Dutch: gebed

Cognate with German: Gebet

In summary

From Middle English bede (“a prayer”), also “a bead for counting prayers” in a peire of bedes (literally “a pair of beads”), from Old English bedu, bed, ġebed (“a request, entreaty, prayer”), from Proto-West Germanic *bedu, *bed, *gabed, from Proto-Germanic *bedō, *bedą.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gebäd (“prayer”), Cimbrian gapéet (“prayer”), Dutch gebed and bede (“prayer”), German Gebet (“prayer”), Low German Gebett (“prayer”), Luxembourgish Gebiet (“prayer”), Vilamovian gybāt (“prayer”).