bid
pronunciation
How to pronounce bid in British English:
UK [bɪd]
How to pronounce bid in American English:
US [bɪd]
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- Noun:
- an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
- an attempt to get something
- a formal proposal to buy at a specified price
- (bridge) the number of tricks a bridge player is willing to contract to make
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- Verb:
- propose a payment
- invoke upon
- ask for or request earnestly
- make a demand, as for a card or a suit or a show of hands
- make a serious effort to attain something
- ask someone in a friendly way to do something
Word Origin
- bid
- bid: [OE] Bid has a complicated history, for it comes from what were originally two completely distinct Old English verbs. The main one was biddan (past tense bæd) ‘ask, demand’, from which we get such modern English usages as ‘I bade him come in’. It goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *bithjan (source of German bitten ‘ask’), which was formed from the base *beth- (from which modern English gets bead).But a contribution to the present nexus of meanings was also made by Old English bēodan (past tense bēad) ‘offer, proclaim’ (whence ‘bid at an auction’ and so on). This can be traced ultimately to an Indo- European base *bh(e)udh-, which gave Germanic *buth-, source also of German bieten ‘offer’ and perhaps of English beadle [13], originally ‘one who proclaims’.=> bead, beadle
- bid (v.)
- probably an early Middle English mutual influence or confusion of two old words: The sense in bid farewell is from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd, past participle beden), from Proto-Germanic *bidjan "to pray, entreat" (source also of German bitten "to ask," attested in Old High German from 8c., also Old Saxon bidjan, Old Frisian bidda, Old Norse biðja, Gothic bidjan). This, according to Kluge and Watkins, is from a PIE root *gwhedh- "to ask, pray" (see bead (n.)). To bid at an auction, meanwhile, is from Old English beodan "offer, proclaim" (class II strong verb; past tense bead, past participle boden), from Proto-Germanic *beudan "to stretch out, reach out, offer, present," (source also of German bieten "to offer," Old High German biatan, also Old Saxon biodan, Old Frisian biada, Old Norse bjoða, Gothic anabiudan "to command"). This is from PIE root *bheudh- "to be aware, make aware" (see bode (v.)). As a noun, 1788, from the verb.
Example
- 1. An ebay bid is a binding contract .
- 2. Canada 's provincial politicians have applauded maple 's bid .
- 3. Its bid was regarded by many as the most technically complete .
- 4. Welcome to skolkovo , russia 's bid to build a new silicon valley .
- 5. The americans are still bent on vetoing any early bid .