# been

> English word · Verb · IPA /bɪn/ · frequency rank #62

## Definitions
1. past participle of be.
2. remote past form of be.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Germanic *ga-
Proto-West Germanic *ga-
Old English ġe-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *bʰuHyétider.?
Proto-Germanic *beuną
Proto-West Germanic *beun
Old English bēon
Old English ġebēon
Middle English been
English been
From Middle English been (past participle), from Old English (ġe)bēon. By surface analysis, be + -en.

## Easily confused with
- **bn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bn)
- **bet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bet)
- **ben** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-ben)
- **bye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bye)
- **bin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bin)
- **beg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-beg)
- **BON** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bon)
- **bun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bun)
- **bel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bel)
- **bey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bey)
- **bev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bev)
- **Boe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-boe)
- **bes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bes)
- **ber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-ber)
- **BLE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-ble)
- **best** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-best)
- **born** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-born)
- **beer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-beer)
- **bell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-bell)
- **burn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/been-vs-burn)

## Common misspellings (2)
`bbeen`, `beenn`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/been