English - Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old English is, from Proto-Germanic *isti, a form of Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti (“is”). Cognate with West Frisian is (“is”), Dutch is (“is”), German ist (“is”), Old Swedish is (“is”). The paradigm of "to be" has been since the time of Proto-Germanic a synthesis of four originally distinct verb stems. The infinitive form "to be" is from *bʰuH- (“to become”). The forms is and am are derived from *h₁es- (“to be”) whereas the form are comes from *iraną (“to rise, be quick, become active”). Lastly, the past forms starting with "w-" such as was and were are from *h₂wes- (“to reside”).

Alternative forms

• 's

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɪz/
• Rhymes: -ɪz

Verb

is

1. third-person singular simple present indicative form of be

   He is a doctor. He retired some time ago.

   Should he do the task, it is vital that you follow him.

   It all depends on what the meaning of is is. - Bill Clinton

2. (colloquial, nonstandard) second-person present of be

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.

Translations

See also

Statistics

English - Etymology 2

i +‎ -s.

Noun

is

1. plural form of i

   remember to dot your is

Usage notes

• There is some difference of opinion regarding the use of apostrophes in the pluralization of references to letters as symbols. New Fowler's Modern English Usage, after noting that the usage has changed, states at page 602 that "after letters an apostrophe is obligatory." The 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style states at paragraph 7.16, "To avoid confusion, lowercase letters ... form the plural with an apostrophe and an s". The Oxford Style Manual at page 116 advocates the use of common sense.

English - Anagrams

• si, Si, SI

Afrikaans - Verb

is

1. am, are, is (present tense, all persons, plural and singular of wees, to be)
2. Forms the perfect passive voice when followed by a past participle

Catalan - Noun

is

1. plural form of i

Danish - Etymology

From Old Norse íss, from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eiH-.

Danish - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iːs/
• Rhymes: -iːs

Danish - Noun

is c (singular definite isen, plural indefinite is)

1. (uncountable) ice, ice cream (water in frozen form, dessert)
2. (countable) ice, ice cream (ice cream on a stick or in a wafer cone)

Inflection

Dutch - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪs/

Dutch - Verb

is

1. third-person singular present indicative of zijn; is, equals

   Twaalf min drie is negen — twelve minus three equals nine

Dutch - Adverb

is

1. (informal, dialect) Misspelling of es.

Dutch - Anagrams

• si

Gothic - Romanization

is

1. Romanization of

Hungarian - Etymology

Cognate of és (“and”).

Hungarian - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈiʃ/

Hungarian - Adverb

is

1. also, too, as well

   Én is szeretem a csokit. - I also like chocolate. (Besides other people)

   A csokit is szeretem. - I also like chocolate. (Besides other things)

2. even

   Három óráig is tarthat a műtét - The operation may even take three hours.

3. (after an interrogative word) again (used in a question to ask something one has forgotten)

   Hogy is hívják? - What's that called, again?

Synonyms

• szintén

Derived terms

(Compound words):

• csakis
• legalábbis
• máris
• mégis
• ugyanis
• úgyis

(Expressions):

• a falnak is füle van
• segíts magadon, s az Isten is megsegít
• sok jó ember kis helyen is elfér

Irish - Etymology 1

From agus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɪsˠ], IPA^(key): [sˠ]

Conjunction

is

1. reduced form of agus

• and

Irish - Etymology 2

From Old Irish is (“is”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɪsˠ], [sˠ] (before nouns and adjectives)
• IPA^(key): [ʃ] (before pronouns é, í, ea, iad)

Particle

is

1. Present/future realis copula form

   Is múinteoir é Dónall.

   Dónall is a teacher.

   (definition: predicate is indefinite)

   Is é Dónall an múinteoir.

   Dónall is the teacher.

   (identification: predicate is definite)

   Is féidir liom snámh.

   I can swim.

   (idiomatic noun predicate)

   Is maith liom tae.

   I like tea.

   (idiomatic adjective predicate)

   Is mise a chonnaic é.

   I'm the one who saw him

   (compare Hiberno-English "'Tis I who saw him"; cleft sentence)

   Is é Dónall atá ina mhúinteoir.

   It's Dónall who is a teacher.

   (cleft sentence)

2. Used to introduce the comparative/superlative form of adjectives

   an buachaill is mó

   the bigger boy; the biggest boy

   Is mó an buachaill ná Séamas.

   The boy is bigger than James.

   Is é Séamas an buachaill is mó in Éirinn!

   James is the biggest boy in Ireland! (lit. "It is James (who is) the boy (who) is biggest in Ireland")

Usage notes

Used in present and future sentences for identification or definition of a subject as the person/object identified in the predicate of the sentence. Sometimes used with noun or adjective predicates, especially in certain fixed idiomatic phrases. Used to introduce cleft sentences, which are extremely common in Irish. It is not a verb.

In comparative/superlative formations, is is strictly speaking the relative of the copula, hence an buachaill is mó literally means "the boy who is biggest", i.e. "the biggest boy". The thing compared is introduced by ná (“than”).

Related terms

Latin - Etymology 1

Inflected form of eō (“go”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /iːs/

Verb

īs

1. second-person singular present active indicative of eo

Latin - Etymology 2

From Proto-Italic *is, from Proto-Indo-European *éy.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /is/

Pronoun

is

1. (demonstrative) it; he (refers to a masculine word), this, that

   Is mihi rescripsit.

   He wrote back to me.

Declension

Irregular: similar to first and second declensions, except for singular genitives ending in "-ius" and singular datives ending in "-ī".

See also

Navajo - Interjection

is

1. as if, as if it were true, it could be, is it really?, what do you mean by that?, so you say expressing surprise

Usage notes

Usually spelled with the final letter repeated: iss, isss, issss.

Alternative forms

• as
• isdaʼ

Norwegian Bokmål - Etymology

From Old Norse íss, from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eiH-.

Norwegian Bokmål - Noun

is m (definite singular isen, indefinite plural iser, definite plural isene)

1. (uncountable) ice
2. (countable) ice cream

Synonyms

• iskrem (ice cream)

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk - Etymology

From Old Norse íss, from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eiH-.

Norwegian Nynorsk - Noun

is m (definite singular isen, indefinite plural isar, definite plural isane)

1. ice
2. ice cream

Synonyms

• iskrem (ice cream)

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk - References

• “is” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English - Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eiH-, *ei-, *ī- (“ice, frost”). Cognate with Old Frisian īs (West Frisian iis), Old Saxon īs (Low German Ies), Dutch ijs, Old High German īs (German Eis), Old Norse íss (Danish and Swedish is), Gothic

Old English - Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iːs/

Old English - Noun

īs n

1. ice
   • the Legend of St Andrew

     Ofer eastreamas is brycgade.

     The ice formed a bridge over the streams.

2. The runic character ᛁ (/i/ or /i:/)

Derived terms

• īsceald
• īsiġ

Descendants

• Middle English: is
  • Scots: ice
  • English: ice

Old High German - Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eiH-. Compare Old Saxon īs, Old English īs, Old Norse íss, Gothic

Old High German - Noun

īs

1. ice

Descendants

• German: Eis

Old Irish - Etymology

The lemma is itself is from Proto-Indo-European *h₁esti; other forms are from either Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- or Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-.

Old Irish - Verb

is

1. to be
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 14^d26

     Is i persin Crist da·gníu-sa sin.

     It is in the person of Christ that I do that.

Usage notes

This is the so-called "copula", which is distinct from the "substantive verb" at·tá. The copula is used with noun predicates and to introduce a cleft sentence.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• cesu (“although... is”)
• condid (“so that... is”)
• in (“is... ?”)
• masu (“if... is”)
• ní (“is not”)

Synonyms

• at·tá (substantive verb)

Old Saxon - Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *it.

Pronoun

is (is)

1. his, its

Declension

Old Saxon - Etymology 2

Verb

is

1. third-person singular present indicative of wesan

Old Saxon - Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eiH-, *ei-, *ī- (“ice, frost”). Cognate with Old Frisian īs (West Frisian iis), Old English īs (English ice), Dutch ijs, Old High German īs (German Eis), Old Norse íss (Danish and Swedish is), Gothic

Portuguese - Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈis/
• (Carioca) IPA^(key): /ˈiʃ/

Portuguese - Noun

is

1. plural form of i
   • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Lya Wyler, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page 411:

     Se você pôs os pingos nos is e cortou os tês então pode fazer o que quiser!

     If you've dotted your I's and crossed your T's, then you can do whatever you want!

Scots - Adverb

is (not comparable)

1. (South Scots) as

Synonyms

• es

Scots - Conjunction

is

1. (South Scots) as

Synonyms

• es

Scots - Pronoun

is personal, non-emphatic

1. (South Scots) me

See also

• A
• mei (emphatic variant)

Scots - Verb

is

1. third-person singular simple present indicative form of be

Scots - See Also

• ir

Scottish Gaelic - Alternative Forms

• 's

Scottish Gaelic - Conjunction

is

1. and

Synonyms

• agus

Scottish Gaelic - Verb

is

1. am, are, is

Usage notes

• This defective verb doesn't have the infinitive, future tense, subjunctive or conditional moods.
• The dependent form, used after particles, is e.
• Is is used when linking the subject of a sentence with an object ("somebody is somebody", "somebody is something", "something is something"), otherwise forms of the verb bi are used:

  Is mise Dòmhnall. ― I am Donald.

  Tha mise ann an taigh-seinnse. ― I am in a pub.

Derived terms

• an e...?
• bu
• chan e
• gur e

Swedish - Etymology

From Old Norse íss, from Proto-Germanic *īsą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eiH-.

Swedish - Noun

is c

1. (uncountable) Ice; frozen water.
2. (countable) Ice; a sheet of ice lying on a body of water.

Declension

Related terms

Swedish - References

• is in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)

Tok Pisin - Etymology

From English East.

Tok Pisin - Noun

is

1. East

Turkish - Noun

is (definite accusative isi, plural isler)

1. fume

Declension

Volapük - Adverb

is

1. here

Rime