be \be\ b=e, v. i. imp. was wo^z; p. p. been
   bi^n; p. pr.  vb. n. being. oe. been, beon, as.
   be'on to be, be'om i am; akin to ohg. bim, pim, g. bin, i
   am, gael.  ir. bu was, w. bod to be, lith. bu-ti, o. slav.
   by-ti, to be, l. fu-i i have been, fu-turus about to be,
   fo-re to be about to be, and perh. to fieri to become, gr.
   fy^nai to be born, to be, skr. bh=u to be. this verb is
   defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from
   other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with
   be. the various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are
   considered grammatically as parts of the verb "to be", which,
   with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive
   verb. root97. cf. future, physic.
   1. to exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have
      existence.
      1913 webster

            to be contents his natural desire.    --pope.
      1913 webster

            to be, or not to be: that is the question. --shak.
      1913 webster

   2. to exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a
      reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the
      subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a
      certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or
      as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words
      for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be
      here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a
      hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five;
      annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the
      man.
      1913 webster

   3. to take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on thursday.
      1913 webster

   4. to signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to.
      1913 webster

            the field is the world.               --matt. xiii.
                                                  38.
      1913 webster

            the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the
            seven churches.                       --rev. i. 20.
      1913 webster

   note: the verb to be including the forms is, was, etc. is
         used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as,
         john has been struck by james. it is also used with the
         past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a
         state of the subject. but have is now more commonly
         used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different
         sense; as, "ye have come too late -- but ye are come. "
         "the minstrel boy to the war is gone." the present and
         imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a
         particular future tense, which expresses necessity,
         duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we
         are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed
         to-morrow.
         1913 webster

   note: have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. "i
         have been to paris." --sydney smith. "have you been to
         franchard ?" --r. l. stevenson.
         1913 webster

   note: been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the
         indicative present. "ye ben light of the world."
         --wyclif, matt. v. 14. afterwards be was used, as in
         our bible: "they that be with us are more than they
         that be with them." --2 kings vi. 16. ben was also the
         old infinitive: "to ben of such power." --r. of
         gloucester. be is used as a form of the present
         subjunctive: "but if it be a question of words and
         names." --acts xviii. 15. but the indicative forms, is
         and are, with if, are more commonly used.
         1913 webster

   be it so, a phrase of supposition, equivalent to suppose it
      to be so; or of permission, signifying let it be so.
      --shak.

   if so be, in case.

   to be from, to have come from; as, from what place are you?
      i am from chicago.

   to let be, to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone. "let
      be, therefore, my vengeance to dissuade." --spenser.
      1913 webster

   syn: to be, exist.

   usage: the verb to be, except in a few rare cases, like that
          of shakespeare's "to be, or not to be", is used simply
          as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate;
          as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. the verb to
          exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but
          points to things that stand forth, or have a
          substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all
          corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. it is not,
          therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as
          a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers
          for the sake of variety; as in the phrase "there
          exists is no reason for laying new taxes." we may,
          indeed, say, "a friendship has long existed between
          them," instead of saying, "there has long been a
          friendship between them;" but in this case, exist is
          not a mere copula. it is used in its appropriate sense
          to mark the friendship as having been long in
          existence.
          1913 webster
see also:
was been being future physic be it so 
if so be to be from to let be to be exist 

be- \be-\ as. be, and in accented form bimac, akin to os. be
   and bimac, ohg. bi, pi, and pimac, mhg. be and bimac,
   g. be and bei, goth. bi, and perh. gr. 'amfi` about cf. as.
   bese'on to look about. root203. cf. by, amb-.
   a prefix, originally the same word as by; joined with verbs,
   it serves:
   a to intensify the meaning; as, bespatter, bestir.
   b to render an intransitive verb transitive; as, befall to
       fall upon; bespeak to speak for.
   c to make the action of a verb particular or definite; as,
       beget to get as offspring; beset to set around.
       1913 webster

   note: it is joined with certain substantives, and a few
         adjectives, to form verbs; as, bedew, befriend,
         benight, besot; belate to make late; belittle to
         make little. it also occurs in certain nouns, adverbs,
         and prepositions, often with something of the force of
         the preposition by, or about; as, belief believe,
         behalf, bequest bequeath; because, before, beneath,
         beside, between.
         in some words the original force of be is obscured or
         lost; as, in become, begin, behave, behoove, belong.
         1913 webster
see also:
by amb- 

be
     n : a light strong brittle gray toxic bivalent metallic element
         syn: beryllium, glucinium, atomic number 4
     v 1: have the quality of being; copula, used with an adjective
          or a predicate noun; "john is rich"; "this is not a
          good answer"
     2: be identical to; be someone or something; "the president of
        the company is john smith"; "this is my house"
     3: occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere; "where is
        my umbrella?" "the toolshed is in the back"; "what is
        behind this behavior?"
     4: have an existence, be extant; "is there a god?" syn: exist
     5: happen, occur, take place; "i lost my wallet; this was
        during the visit to my parents' house"; "there were two
        hundred people at his funeral"; "there was a lot of noise
        in the kitchen"
     6: be identical or equivalent to; "one dollar equals 1,000
        rubles these days" syn: equal ant: differ
     7: form or compose; "this money is my only income"; "the stone
        wall was the backdrop for the performance"; "these
        constitute my entire belonging"; "the children made up the
        chorus"; "this sum represents my entire income for a
        year"; "these few men comprise his entire army" syn: constitute,
         represent, make up, comprise
     8: work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a
        specific function; "he is a herpetologist"; "she is our
        resident philosopher" syn: follow
     9: represent, as of a character on stage; "derek jacobi was
        hamlet" syn: embody, personify
     10: spend or use time; "i may be an hour"
     11: have life, be alive; "our great leader is no more"; "my
         grandfather lived until the end of war" syn: live
     12: to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used
         only in infinitive form; "let her be"
     13: be priced at; "these shoes cost $100" syn: cost
see also:
beryllium glucinium atomic number 4 exist equal differ 
constitute represent make up comprise follow 
embody personify live cost 

27 moby thesaurus words for "be":
   abide, be extant, be found, be in existence, be met with,
   be present, be the case, be there, breathe, come, continue, endure,
   exist, go on, happen to be, have being, have place, hold, live,
   move, obtain, occur, persist, prevail, remain, stand, subsist

be
     
         the country code for belgium.
     
        1999-01-27
     
     
see also:
country code 

bee. the name of a well known insect.
     2. bees are considered ferae naturae while unreclaimed; and they are 
not more subjects of property while in their natural state, than the birds 
which have their nests on the tree of an individual. 3 binn. r. 546 5 sm.  
marsh. 333. this agrees with the roman law. inst. 2 1, 14; dig. 41, 1, 5, 2; 
7 johns. rep. 16; 2 bl. com. 392 bro. ab. propertie, 37; coop. justin. 458. 
     3. in new york it has been decided that bees in a tree belong, to the 
owner of the soil, while unreclaimed. when they have been reclaimed, and the 
owner can identify them, they belong to him, and not to the owner of the 
soil. 15 wend. r. 550. see 1 cowen, r. 243.