biro

Genericized trademark of BIRO, named after László Bíró, the inventor of the ballpoint pen.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪ.ɹəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɹəʊ

biro (countable and uncountable, plural biros)

1. A Biro brand ballpoint pen.
   • 1945 November and December, Railway Magazine, page v, advertisement:

     Biro MARKS A TURNING POINT IN THE HISTORY OF Writing
     "BIRO" is unique: it writes with a ballpoint — a point that never goes wrong, never floods, bends or splutters — a point that rolls your writing on to the paper with effortless ease. "BIRO" ink dries as you write; you cannot smudge it; you need no blotter. […]
     Retail price 55/- including purchase tax

   • 1993, Iain Banks, Complicity, published 2008, unnumbered page:

     Frank's Biro taps delicately at the topmost of the little yellow notes.

2. (by extension, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland) Any ballpoint pen.
   • 2007, Karen Foxlee, The Anatomy of Wings, page 250:

     Massimo's finger was poised above red on his multi-coloured biro like a kangaroo frozen in headlights.

3. (uncountable, by extension) Ink from a ballpoint pen.
   • 2011, Shannon Lush, Jennifer Fleming, Completely Spotless, unnumbered page:

     ‘My very creative 2-year-old son used my good friend′s white polyester Roman blinds as a canvas,’ says Jacqui. They′re now covered in blue biro. And although my friend isn′t too bothered by the biro, I am! Can you help?′

• biro on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• brio, ribo-

• IPA^(key): [ˈbiro]
• Rhymes: -iro
• Hyphenation: bi‧ro

biro (accusative singular biron, plural biroj, accusative plural birojn)

1. (directional) bearing

Borrowed from English bureau.

• IPA^(key): /bi.ro/

biro

1. bureau

Borrowed from English beer, French bière, German Bier, Italian birra.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiro/

biro (plural biri)

1. beer

   Un glaso di biro, danko. ― One glass of beer, thanks.

From Dutch bureau (“bureau”), from French bureau, from Middle French burel, from Old French burel.

• IPA^(key): /bi.ro/
• Hyphenation: bi‧ro

biro

1. bureau: office.

• bureau (pre-1947)

• “biro” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi.ro/
• Rhymes: -iro
• Hyphenation: bì‧ro

biro f (invariable)

1. ballpoint pen, biro

   Synonym: penna a sfera

• bori, brio, brio-, orbi

From French bureau.

biro class 5 (plural mabiro class 6)

1. office (building or room)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpiro/

biro

1. devil

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎, Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

bìrō n (Cyrillic spelling бѝро̄)

1. office

   Synonyms: kancelàrija, úred

Compare Kapampangan biru and Aklanon bueo.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɾoʔ/ [ˈbi.ɾoʔ]
• Rhymes: -iɾoʔ
• Syllabification: bi‧ro

birò (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜇᜓ)

1. joke; jest

   Synonyms: siste, tukso, tudyo

   Naging biro na sa magkaibigan ang pinag-awayan nila dati. ― What the friends had argued about before has become a joke.

2. act of joking with someone

• patawa
• lambo

• “biro” at KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino‎, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2021
• “biro”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

biro

1. sir (term of address)

• Eipper, Christopher, STATEMENT OF THE ORIGIN, CONDITION, AND PROSPECTS, OF THE GERMAN MISSION TO THE ABORIGINES AT MORETON BAY, CONDUCTED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NEW SOUTH WALES, 1841.