bief
French, noun/bjɛf/
bief is spelled B-I-E-F (4 letters) and appears about once in every 3 million words in written French, the 55,146th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bief is a French masculine noun meaning “reach (of water)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Portion d’un canal de navigation ou d’une rivière canalisée comprise entre deux écluses, deux barrages ou…”.
What does bief mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculinereach (of water)
- 2
masculinemill race
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Portion d’un canal de navigation ou d’une rivière canalisée comprise entre deux écluses, deux barrages ou deux chutes. 2. Canal de dérivation. 3. Canal conduisant l’eau sur la roue d’un moulin.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of bief
- biefs plural
- biez
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce bief?
- /bjɛf/
- /bje/
- \bjɛf\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to bief
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bief in French?
bief appears about once in every 3 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).