# bin

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɪn/ · frequency rank #4,920

## Definitions
1. A box, frame, crib, or enclosed place, used as a storage container.
2. A container for rubbish or waste.
3. Any of the discrete intervals in a histogram, etc
4. Any of the fixed-size chunks into which airspace is divided for the purposes of radar.
5. Jail or prison.
6. Ellipsis of loony bin (“lunatic asylum”).
7. A digital file folder for organising media in a non-linear editing program.

## Etymology
From Middle English bynne, from Old English binn (“crib, manger”), from Late Latin benna or a Celtic language, possibly Proto-Brythonic *benn (“cart, carriage”) (whence Middle Welsh benn, Old Breton benn (“caisson”), modern Welsh ben), from Proto-Celtic *bend(n)ā (whence Gaulish benna). Compare German Benne (“wheelbarrow”) and Middle Dutch benne (“basket”), whence modern Dutch ben and as a borrowing, West Frisian bin (both "wicker basket").

## Easily confused with
- **by** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-by)
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bs)
- **bo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bo)
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-br)
- **Bt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bt)
- **BP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bp)
- **BL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bl)
- **BM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bm)
- **bn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bn)
- **BJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bj)
- **BW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bw)
- **BX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bx)
- **but** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-but)
- **bit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bit)
- **buy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-buy)
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-boy)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-box)
- **bus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bus)
- **bob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bob)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bin-vs-bro)

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