beige

== English == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (“cotton”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “cotton homespun”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbeɪʒ/, /ˈbeɪd͡ʒ/ Rhymes: -eɪʒ, -eɪdʒ === Noun === beige (countable and uncountable, plural beiges) A slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool. Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods. ==== Translations ==== === Adjective === beige (comparative beiger or more beige, superlative beigest or most beige) Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool. Synonyms: bland, indistinct, colorless, drab (informal, originally US) Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia. Synonyms: bland, tedious ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === See also === Appendix:Colors === Further reading === beige on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “beige adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present == Afrikaans == === Etymology === From Dutch beige, from French beige. === Pronunciation === === Adjective === beige (attributive beige, comparative beiger, superlative beigeste) beige == Dutch == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from French beige, from Middle French beige, from Old French bege. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbɛː.ʒə/ Hyphenation: bei‧ge Rhymes: -ɛːʒə === Adjective === beige (comparative beiger, superlative meest beige or beigest) beige ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== beigeachtig == Finnish == === Alternative forms === beesi, bees === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from French beige. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbei̯ɡe/, [ˈbe̞i̯ɡe̞] IPA(key): /ˈbeːʒi/, [ˈbe̞ːʒi] Rhymes: -eiɡe Syllabification(key): bei‧ge Hyphenation(key): bei‧ge === Adjective === beige (comparative beigempi, superlative beigein) beige ==== Declension ==== === Noun === beige beige (color) ==== Declension ==== === Further reading === “beige”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023 == French == === Etymology === Inherited from Old French bege. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /bɛʒ/ === Adjective === beige (plural beiges) beige ==== Descendants ==== === Further reading === “beige”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == German == === Etymology 1 === Unadapted borrowing from French beige. ==== Pronunciation ==== Predicative form: IPA(key): /beːʃ/, /bɛːʃ/ Inflected forms: IPA(key): /beːʒə/, /bɛːʒə/, /beːʃə/, /bɛːʃə/ Rhymes: -eːʃə, -eːʃ, -ɛːʃ, -ɛːʒə, -eːʒə, -ɛːʃə ==== Adjective ==== beige (strong nominative masculine singular beiger, not comparable) beige ===== Usage notes ===== Beige is inflected like a regular adjective in pronunciation. However, since its basic form is written with a mute -e, the inflectional ending -e is not visible in writing: das beige [beːʒə] Haus – the beige house. The other inflectional endings are visible: in dem beigen Haus – in the beige house. ===== Declension ===== ===== Related terms ===== Beige === Etymology 2 === See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /ˈbaɪ̯ɡə/ Hyphenation: bei‧ge ==== Verb ==== beige inflection of beigen: first-person singular present first/third-person singular subjunctive I singular imperative === Further reading === “beige” in Duden online “beige” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache == Luxembourgish == === Etymology === Borrowed from French beige. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbeːʃ/ === Adjective === beige (masculine beigen, neuter beiget, comparative méi beige, superlative am beigesten) beige ==== Declension ==== This adjective needs an inflection-table template. == Norwegian Bokmål == === Alternative forms === besj (alternative spelling) === Adjective === beige (singular and plural beige) beige === References === “beige” in The Bokmål Dictionary. == Norwegian Nynorsk == === Alternative forms === besj (alternative spelling) === Adjective === beige (singular and plural beige, comparative beigare, indefinite superlative beigast, definite superlative beigaste) beige === References === “beige” in The Nynorsk Dictionary. == Spanish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from French beige. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbeiʃ/ [ˈbei̯ʃ] Rhymes: -eiʃ IPA(key): /ˈbeis/ [ˈbei̯s] Rhymes: -eis IPA(key): /ˈbeʃ/ [ˈbeʃ] Rhymes: -eʃ Syllabification: beige === Adjective === beige (invariable) alternative form of beis === Noun === beige m (uncountable) alternative form of beis ==== Usage notes ==== According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed. === Further reading === “beige”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 == Swedish == === Etymology === Attested from 1895. Unadapted borrowing from French beige. The slang definition is likely associated to the perceived blandness of the color. === Pronunciation === (Sweden) IPA(key): /beːɧ/, /bɛːɧ/ Rhymes: -eːɧ, -ɛːɧ === Adjective === beige beige (slang) boring, uninteresting, negative ==== Declension ==== ==== See also ==== === References === “beige”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish) “beige”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish) “beige”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)