by
Meaning
-
- Near or next to.
- From one side of something to the other, passing close by; past.
- Not later than (the given time); not later than the end of (the given time interval).
- Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
- Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
- Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
- Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.
- Indicates a means of achieving something: Involving/using the means of.
- Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
- Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
- Indicates a means of classification or organisation.
- Indicates the amount of change, difference or discrepancy
- In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
- Acted on in units of the specified size or measure. (Sometimes hyperbolically)
- per; with or in proportion to each.
- Indicates a referenced source: According to.
- Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
- Designates a horse's male parent (sire); cf. out of.
Synonyms
near to
in accordance with
by means
indicates means of action
cause of effect
at the side of
not later than
parallel to
parallel with
in the view of
all the
at the rate of
belonging to
in conformity with
in conjunction with
in the case of
in the neighbourhood of
by reason of
by the side
in the neighborhood of
in the vicinity of
straight past
by doing
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/baɪ/
Etymology
From Middle English by, bi, from Old English bī (“by; near; around”), from Proto-West Germanic *bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near; by; around; about”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi. Cognate with West Frisian by (“by; near”), Afrikaans by (“at; by; near”), Saterland Frisian bie (“near; by”), Dutch bij (“near; by”), German Low German bi (“by; near; at”), German bei (“by; near; at”).
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