business

English

Alternative forms

• bisoness, businesse, busynesse (obsolete)
• bidness (pronunciation spelling, AAVE)

Etymology

From Middle English busines, busynes, businesse, bisynes, from Old English bisiġnes (“business, busyness”), equivalent to busy +‎ -ness. Doublet of busyness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪz.nɪs/, /ˈbɪz.nɪz/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪz.nəs/, /ˈbɪz.nəz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪd.nəs/, /ˈbɪd.nəz/
• Hyphenation: busi‧ness
• Rhymes: -ɪznɪs, -ɪznɪz, -ɪznəs, -ɪznəz, -ɪdnəs, -ɪdnəz

Noun

business (countable and uncountable, plural businesses)

1. (countable) A specific commercial enterprise or establishment.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:enterprise

   I was left my father's business.

   • 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 68:

     The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them, which is then licensed to related businesses in high-tax countries, is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.

   • Commercial definition

     An advertisement in a common media format, usually radio or television. (1 of 4 commercial definitions)

   • Enterprise definition

     (1 of 8 enterprise definitions)

   • Establishment definition

     The act of establishing; a ratifying or ordaining; settlement; confirmation. (1 of 6 establishment definitions)
2. (countable) A person's occupation, work, or trade.

   He is in the motor and insurance businesses.

   I'm going to Las Vegas on business.

   • Occupation definition

     An activity or task with which one occupies oneself; usually specifically the productive activity, service, trade, or craft for which one is regularly paid; a job. (1 of 3 occupation definitions)

   • Work definition

     Employment.

     1. labour, occupation, job. (1 of 19 work definitions)

   • Trade definition

     Buying and selling of goods and services on a market. (1 of 15 trade definitions)
3. (uncountable) Commercial, industrial, or professional activity.

   He's such a poor cook, I can't believe he's still in business!

   We do business all over the world.

   • Industrial definition

     Of or relating to industry, notably manufacturing. (1 of 8 industrial definitions)

   • Professional definition

     A person who belongs to a profession. (1 of 6 professional definitions)
4. (uncountable) The volume or amount of commercial trade.

   Business has been slow lately.

   They did nearly a million dollars of business over the long weekend.

   • 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist‎^[1], volume 407, number 8837, page 74:

     In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%. That means about $165 billion was spent not on drumming up business, but on annoying people, creating landfill and cluttering spam filters.

   • Volume definition

     A three-dimensional measure of space that comprises a length, a width and a height. It is measured in units of cubic centimeters in metric, cubic inches or cubic feet in English measurement. (1 of 12 volume definitions)

   • Amount definition

     The total, aggregate or sum of material . (1 of 3 amount definitions)
5. (uncountable) One's dealings; patronage.

   I shall take my business elsewhere.

   • Patronage definition

     The act of providing approval and support; backing; championship. (1 of 8 patronage definitions)
6. (uncountable) Private commercial interests taken collectively.

   This proposal will satisfy both business and labor.

   • 2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.

   • Interest definition

     (1 of 15 interest definitions)
7. (uncountable) The management of commercial enterprises, or the study of such management.

   I studied business at Harvard.

8. (countable) A particular situation or activity.

   This UFO stuff is a mighty strange business.

   • Situation definition

     The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs. (1 of 8 situation definitions)

   • Activity definition

     The state or quality of being active; activeness. (1 of 6 activity definitions)
9. (countable) Any activity or objective needing to be dealt with; especially, one of a financial or legal matter.

   Our principal business here is to get drunk.

   Let's get down to business.

   • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Chapter I: Of Sense”, in Leviathan‎^Wikisource:

     To know the naturall cause of Sense, is not very necessary to the business now in hand; and I have els-where written of the same at large.

   • Objective definition

     Of or relating to a material object, actual existence or reality. (1 of 6 objective definitions)

   • Deal With definition

     To handle verbally or in some form of artistic expression; to address or discuss as a subject. (1 of 6 deal with definitions)

   • Financial definition

     Related to finances. (1 of 2 financial definitions)

   • Legal definition

     Relating to the law or to lawyers. (1 of 6 legal definitions)
10. (uncountable) Something involving one personally.

    That's none of your business.

    • Personally definition

      In a personal manner. (1 of 4 personally definitions)
11. (uncountable, parliamentary procedure) Matters that come before a body for deliberation or action.

    If that concludes the announcements, we'll move on to new business.

12. (travel, uncountable) Business class, the class of seating provided by airlines between first class and coach.
    • 1992, James Wallace, Jim Erickson, Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire‎^[2], page 154:

      Gates, who always flew business or coach, didn't particularly like the high air fares Nishi was charging to Microsoft, […]

    • Travel definition

      To be on a journey, often for pleasure or business and with luggage; to go from one place to another. (1 of 6 travel definitions)

    • Business Class definition

      A high-quality class of travelling (especially in airlines), higher than economy class or budget, lower than first class.

    • First Class definition

      Belonging to the best or top group in a system of classification. (1 of 6 first class definitions)

    • Coach definition

      A wheeled vehicle, generally drawn by horse power. (1 of 8 coach definitions)
13. (acting) Action carried out with a prop or piece of clothing, usually away from the focus of the scene.
    • 1983, Peter Thomson, Shakespeare's Theatre‎^[3], →ISBN, page 155:

      The business with the hat is a fine example of the difficulty of distinguishing between 'natural' and 'formal' acting.

    • Acting definition

      Temporarily assuming the duties or authority of another person when they are unable to do their job.

    • Prop definition

      An object placed against or under another, to support it; anything that supports. (1 of 3 prop definitions)
14. (countable, rare) The collective noun for a group of ferrets.
    • 2004, Dave Duncan, The Jaguar Knights: A Chronicle of the King's Blades‎^[4], →ISBN, page 252:

      I'm sure his goons will go through the ship like a business of ferrets, and they'll want to look in our baggage.

    • Collective Noun definition

      A noun which, though singular, refers to a group of things or animals. Examples: a school of fish, a pride of lions.

    • Ferrets definition

      plural of ferret
15. (slang, Britain) Something very good; top quality. (possibly from "the bee's knees")

    These new phones are the business!

    • Good definition

      1. Acting in the interest of what is beneficial, ethical, or moral. (1 of 32 good definitions)

    • Top definition

      The highest or uppermost part of something. (1 of 32 top definitions)

    • Quality definition

      Level of excellence. (1 of 8 quality definitions)

    • The Bee's Knees definition

      Something or someone excellent, surpassingly wonderful, or cool. (1 of 2 the bee's knees definitions)
16. (slang, uncountable) The act of defecation, or the excrement itself, particularly that of a non-human animal.

    Your ferret left his business all over the floor.

    As the cart went by, its horse lifted its tail and did its business.

    • Defecation definition

      The act or process of voiding feces from the bowels. (1 of 2 defecation definitions)

    • Excrement definition

      Human and animal solid waste excreted from the bowels; feces. (1 of 2 excrement definitions)
17. (slang) Disruptive shenanigans.

    I haven't seen cartoons giving someone the business since the 1990s.

    • Shenanigans definition

      Mischievous play, especially by children. (1 of 4 shenanigans definitions)
18. (Australian Aboriginal) matters (e.g sorry business = a funeral)

    • Matters definition

      plural of matter

    • Sorry Business definition

      A mourning practice such as a funeral. (1 of 2 sorry business definitions)

Derived terms

Related terms

• pidgin

Descendants

Translations

Adjective

business

1. Of, to, pertaining to or utilized for purposes of conducting trade, commerce, governance, advocacy or other professional purposes.

   Please do not use this phone for personal calls; it is a business phone.

   • 1897, Reform Club (New York, N.Y.) Sound Currency Committee, Sound Currency‎^[5], volumes 4-5, page cclii:

     They are solely business instruments. Every man's relation to them is purely a business relation. His use of them is purely a business use.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 10, in The China Governess‎^[6]:

     With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which was […] in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze.

   • 1996, Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Company, American Law Reports: Annotations and Cases‎^[7], volume 35, page 432:

     […] the fact that the injured party came to the insured premises for solely business purposes precluded any reliance on the non-business pursuits exception (§ 1 1 2[b]).

   • 2003, Marvin Snider, Compatibility Breeds Success: How to Manage Your Relationship with Your Business Partner‎^[8], page 298:

     Both of these partnerships have to cope with these dual issues in a more complicated way than is the case in solely business partnerships.

   • Pertaining definition

     present participle and gerund of pertain

   • Utilized definition

     Being used.

   • Conduct definition

     The act or method of controlling or directing. (1 of 7 conduct definitions)

   • Commerce definition

     The exchange or buying and selling of commodities; especially the exchange of merchandise, on a large scale, between different places or communities; extended trade or traffic. (1 of 4 commerce definitions)

   • Governance definition

     The process, or the power, of governing; government or administration. (1 of 5 governance definitions)

   • Advocacy definition

     The profession of an advocate. (1 of 3 advocacy definitions)
2. Professional, businesslike, having concern for good business practice.
   • 1889, The Clothier and furnisher‎^[9], volume 19, page 38:

     He is thoroughly business, but has the happy faculty of transacting it in a genial and courteous manner.

   • 1909, Business Administration: Business Practice‎^[10], La Salle Extension University, page 77:

     […] and the transaction carried through in a thoroughly business manner.

   • 1927, “Making of America Project”, in Harper's Magazine‎^[11], volume 154, page 502:

     Sometimes this very subtle contrast becomes only too visible, as when in wartime Jewish business men were almost lynched because they were thoroughly business men and worked for profit.

   • 2009, Frank Channing Haddock, Business Power: Supreme Business Laws and Maxims that Win Wealth‎^[12], page 231:

     The moral is evident: do not invest in schemes promising enormous and quick returns unless you have investigated them in a thoroughly business manner.

   • Businesslike definition

     Methodical and efficient, in a way that would be advantageous to a business or businessperson. (1 of 2 businesslike definitions)
3. Supporting business, conducive to the conduct of business.
   • 1867, “Amiens”, in Edmund Hodgson Yates, editor, Tinsley's Magazine‎^[13], page 430:

     Amiens is a thoroughly business town, the business being chiefly with the flax-works.

   • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:

     According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

   • Conducive definition

     Tending to contribute to, encourage, or bring about some result.

See also

• Appendix: Animals
• Appendix:English collective nouns

References

• “business”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• business in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “business”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɪznɪs]

Noun

business m inan

1. business

Declension

Further reading

• business in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• business in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Finnish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English business.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbisnes/, [ˈbis̠ne̞s̠]
• IPA^(key): /ˈpisnes/, [ˈpis̠ne̞s̠]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbusinesː/, [ˈbus̠ine̞s̠ː]

Noun

business

1. Alternative spelling of bisnes

   • Bisnes definition

     business (commercial, industrial, or professional activity) (1 of 4 bisnes definitions)

Usage notes

It may be advisable to avoid using this term in writing.

Declension

This spelling does not fit nicely into Finnish declension system and is therefore seldom used, and mainly in nominative singular.

Pronunciation "bisnes":