b
|bee|
/biː/
the second letter / the /b/ sound
Etymology
'b' originates from Phoenician (via Proto-Canaanite), specifically the letter 'bet' where the root meant 'house'.
'b' changed from the Phoenician letter 'bet' to the Greek 'beta', then to Latin 'B', and eventually became the modern English letter 'b'.
Initially it referred pictorially to 'house' as a character; over time the pictogram lost that lexical meaning and the symbol came to represent the consonant sound /b/.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the second letter of the modern English alphabet, representing the phoneme /b/.
b is the second letter of the alphabet.
Noun 2
a grade indicating above-average performance (commonly written as B).
She received a b in chemistry this term.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Noun 3
the musical pitch or note B (the note a semitone above B♭/A# depending on context).
The melody finishes on a b.
Synonyms
Noun 4
a human blood group designation (blood type B).
He is type b blood.
Last updated: 2025/12/22 13:35