bis
French, noun/bi/
bis is spelled B-I-S (3 letters) and appears 8.5 times per million words in written French, the 7,540th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Bis is a French masculine noun meaning “encore” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a plural of bi. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Rappel des spectateurs à jouer ou chanter une seconde fois”.
What does bis mean in English?
adjective
- 1
beige (colour)
- 2
brown (of bread that contains bran)
adverb
- 1
again (a second time); encore
- 2
A; designating a second thing with the same number
12 bis, rue des Carmelites
adjective
- 1
alternative, secondary
noun
- 1
masculineencore
interjection
- 1
used to request an encore
noun
- 1
Quebecmasculinekiss
noun
- 1
femininemasculineplural of bi
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est d’un gris beige foncé #766F64 ou clair #F1E2BE. 2. Qui contient un peu de son, en parlant d’un pain ; semi-complet.
adverb: 1. Une seconde fois, répétez, recommencez. 2. Secondaire, additionnel. 3. Qui est d’un second choix.
noun: 1. Rappel des spectateurs à jouer ou chanter une seconde fois.
noun: 1. Variante de bise, bisou.
noun: 1. Variante de vis, ancienne unité de masse de l’Inde et du Sud-Est asiatique. Selon le lieu, valait entre 1,3606 et 4,5354 kilogrammes.
prefix: 1. Préfixe signifiant « deux fois ».
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 bis
- bise feminine
- bises feminine plural
- biss
- bixe
- vis
- viss
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce bis?
- /bi/
- /bis/
- \bi\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to bis
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is bis in French?
bis appears 8.5 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).