# by

> English word · Preposition · IPA /baɪ/ · frequency rank #24

## Definitions
1. Near or next to.
2. From one side of something to the other, passing close by; past.
3. Not later than (the given time); not later than the end of (the given time interval).
4. Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
5. Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
6. Indicates the person or thing that does or causes something: Through the action or presence of.
7. Indicates the creator of a work: Existing through the authorship etc. of.
8. Indicates a means of achieving something: Involving/using the means of.
9. Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
10. Indicates an authority according to which something is done.
11. Indicates a means of classification or organisation.
12. Indicates the amount of change, difference or discrepancy
13. In the formulae X by X and by Xs, indicates a steady progression, one X after another.
14. [with the] Acted on in units of the specified size or measure. (Sometimes hyperbolically)
15. Per; with or in proportion to each.
16. Indicates a referenced source: According to.
17. Used to separate dimensions when describing the size of something.
18. multiplied by or (chiefly South Asia) divided by
19. Designates a horse's sire (“male parent”).
20. At; with; among.
21. in a windward direction, sailing near to the direction from which the wind is blowing

## Etymology
From Middle English by, bi, from Old English bī (“by; near; around”), from Proto-West Germanic *bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near; by; around; about”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi.
Cognate with West Frisian by (“by; near”), Afrikaans by (“at; by; near”), Saterland Frisian bie (“near; by”), Dutch bij (“near; by”), German Low German bi (“by; near; at”), German bei (“by; near; at”).

## Easily confused with
- **bye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/by-vs-bye)
- **BYU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/by-vs-byu)
- **byte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/by-vs-byte)
- **b** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/b-vs-by)
- **be** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/be-vs-by)
- **BC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bc-vs-by)
- **ba** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ba-vs-by)
- **bi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bi-vs-by)
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bs-vs-by)
- **bo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bo-vs-by)
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/br-vs-by)
- **Bt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bt-vs-by)
- **BB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bb-vs-by)
- **BP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bp-vs-by)
- **bf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bf-vs-by)
- **bd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bd-vs-by)
- **BL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bl-vs-by)
- **BM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bm-vs-by)
- **bn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bn-vs-by)
- **BG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bg-vs-by)

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