Bi- is used at the beginning of nouns and adjectives that have 'two' as part of their meaning.
...a bi-cultural society.
2. prefix
Bi- is used to form adjectives and adverbs indicating that something happens twice in a period of time or happens once in two periods of time that follow each other.
Students meet biweekly to discuss their experiences.
...a bimonthly magazine.
bi in British English1
(baɪ)
adjective, noun
slang short for bisexual (sense 1)
bi in British English2
the internet domain name for
Burundi
Bi in British English
the chemical symbol for
bismuth
bi- in British English1
or sometimes before a vowel bin-
combining form
1.
two; having two
bifocal
2.
occurring every two; lasting for two
biennial
3.
on both sides, surfaces, directions, etc
bilateral
4.
occurring twice during
biweekly
5.
a.
denoting an organic compound containing two identical cyclic hydrocarbon systems
biphenyl
b.
(rare in technical usage) indicating an acid salt of a dibasic acid
sodium bicarbonate
c. (not in technical usage) equivalent of di-1 (sense 2a)
Word origin
from Latin, from bistwice
bi- in British English2
combining form
a variant of bio-
Bi in American English
Chemistry
bismuth
bi in American English
(baɪ)
adjective, noun
Slang
UNRESOLVED CROSS REF
bi- in American English1
(baɪ)
1.
having two
biangular, bicapsular
2.
doubly, on both sides, in two ways or directions
biconvex, bilingual
3.
coming, happening, or issued every two (specified periods)
biennial, biweekly
4.
coming, happening, or issued twice during every (specified period)
often replaced by semi-
bimonthly, biyearly
5.
using two or both
bilabial, bimanual
6.
joining two, combining or involving two
bilateral, bipartisan
7. Botany and Zoology
twice, doubly, in pairs
bifurcate, bipinnate
8. Chemistry
a.
having twice as many atoms or chemical equivalents for a definite weight of the other constituent of the compound
sodium bicarbonate
b.
in organic compounds, having a combination of two radicals of the same composition
biphenyl
usually replaced by di-1 (sense 2)
▶ USAGE: It becomes bin- before a vowel and bis- before c or s