busy

busy
\ \ [OE] Busy goes back to an Old English bisig, which also meant ‘occupied’. Apart from Dutch bezig, it has no apparent relatives in any Indo-European language, and it is not known where it came from. The sense ‘inquisitive’, from which we get busybody [16], developed in the late 14th century. Business was originally simply a derivative formed from busy by adding the suffix -ness. In Old English it meant ‘anxiety, uneasiness’, reflecting a sense not recorded for the adjective itself until the 14th century. The modern commercial sense seems to have originated in the 15th century. (The modern formation busyness, reflecting the fact that business can no longer be used simply for the ‘state of being busy’, is 19th-century.)
\ \ Cf.PIDGIN

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • busy — bus‧y [ˈbɪzi] adjective 1. a telephone that is busy is being used; = engaged Bre 2. someone who is busy is working and is not available: • Mr Bullon is busy right now can you phone back after lunch? busy with • I ve been busy with customers all… …   Financial and business terms

  • Busy — may refer to: * Busy, Doubs, a commune in France * Mr. Busy, a Mr. Men character * Little Miss Busy, a Little Miss character * Busy Bee, an American rapper * Busy Philipps, an American film actress * Everett M. Busy Arnold, an American comic… …   Wikipedia

  • Busy — Busy …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Busy — Bus y (b[i^]z z[y^]), a. [OE. busi, bisi, AS. bysig; akin to D. bezig, LG. besig; cf. Skr. bh[=u]sh to be active, busy.] 1. Engaged in some business; hard at work (either habitually or only for the time being); occupied with serious affairs; not… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • busy — busy, industrious, diligent, assiduous, sedulous mean actively engaged or occupied in work or in accomplishing a purpose or intention. Busy may imply nothing more than that the person or thing referred to is not idle, that is, that he is at work… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Busy P — Pedro Winter (* 1975 in Paris als Pierre Winter) ist ein französischer Electro House DJ, Produzent, Manager und Inhaber von Ed Banger Records. Er managt Daft Punk, Justice, Cassius und Cosmo Vitelli. Unter dem Namen Busy P ist Winter selbst… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • busy — [biz′ē] adj. busier, busiest [ME busi < OE bisig, occupied, diligent; akin to Du bezig: seen only in LowG & E] 1. occupied in some activity; at work; not idle 2. full of activity; characterized by much action or motion 3. a) in use at the… …   English World dictionary

  • Busy — Bus y (b[i^]z z[y^]), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Busied} (b[i^]z z[i^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Busying}.] [AS. bysgian.] To make or keep busy; to employ; to engage or keep engaged; to occupy; as, to busy one s self with books. [1913 Webster] Be it thy… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Busy — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Busy País …   Wikipedia Español

  • busy — busy·ness; un·busy; busy; busy·body·ism; …   English syllables

  • busy — [adj1] engaged, at work active, already taken*, assiduous, at it*, buried, diligent, employed, engaged, engrossed, having a full plate*, having enough on one’s plate*, having fish to fry*, having many irons in the fire*, hustling, in a meeting,… …   New thesaurus

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