biga

Borrowed from Latin bīga.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɪ.ɡə/, /ˈbiː.ɡə/
• Rhymes: -aɪɡə, -iːɡə

biga (plural bigas or bigae)

1. (historical) A Roman racing chariot drawn by two horses abreast.
   • 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:

     "A biga or quadriga of mules?" suggested Carrados. "An eagle carrying off a hare, a figure flying with a wreath, a trophy of arms? Some of those perhaps?"

• quadriga

Borrowed from Italian biga.

biga (plural bigas)

1. A stiff, yeast-based preferment.
2. (rare) Any yeast starter.
   • 2017, Wayne Gisslen, “Lean Yeast Doughs” (chapter 8), in Professional Baking, 7th edition, page 158:
     When pure pre-ferments like a sponge or biga are used in bread, they may be the only source of leavening. But scrap dough may not be strong enough to ferment the bread on its own in the desired time.

• Baig, bagi, gabi

biga ?

1. calf

biga

1. two

Uncertain; probably from Latin bīga (“tree-trunk”). Cognate with Portuguese viga, Spanish viga, Occitan biga.

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ˈbi.ɣə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈbi.ɣa]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɡa

biga f (plural bigues)

1. beam, as in a large piece of wood or metal serving a structural role in a building

• embigat

• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “biga”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)
• “biga”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *biRaq or Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *biRaʔ (“wild taro with itchy sap”)

bigà (Badlit spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos)

bigà (Badlit spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. semen
2. pre-ejaculate
3. lust; a feeling of strong desire, especially such a feeling driven by sexual arousal

bigà (Badlit spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. to be in heat
2. to be randy; to feel horny
3. to lust

• bigaon

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *biʀaq or Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *biʀaʔ (“wild taro with itchy sap”)

bigà (Kur-itan spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos)

• Vigan
• bigaan

Either from Latin biga (“chariot”) or from a combination Venetan bina' and figa.

biga m

1. form of bread
2. vagina

• Antonio Pellizzer; Giovanni Pellizzer (1992), Vocabulario del dialetto di Rovigno d'Istria, page 110
• Cergna, Sandro (2015), Vocabolario del dialetto di Valle d'Istria‎^[1], →ISBN, →OCLC

From Latin bīga.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi.ɡa/
• Rhymes: -iɡa
• Hyphenation: bì‧ga

biga f (plural bighe)

1. (historical) chariot (two-wheeled)
2. (baking) pre-ferment sponge, similar to poolish (bread starter)
   • 2018, Piergiorgio Giorilli, Il grande libro del pane, Kindle edition, Milan: Gribaudo, →ISBN:

     Gli impasti a base di biga hanno particolari proprietà viscoso-elastiche e risultano particolarmente lisci ed estensibili. […] Infatti spesso per realizzare le ricette, come pasta dura o pane pugliese, vengono utilizzate tutte e due, sia biga sia pasta di riporto, in modo da sfruttare le peculiarità di ambedue le paste.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• bigotta

biga

1. comparative degree of big
   • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Luuk 15:25:

     Di biga bwai pikni did de a grong. […]

     The bigger boy was in the field. […]

From bi- + iuga.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈbiː.ɡa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈbiː.ɡa]

bīga f (genitive bīgae); first declension

1. chariot (two-wheeled)
2. (in the plural) pair of horses

Exclusively used in the plural in pre-Augustan Latin. Seneca and Pliny were the first writers to use it in the singular.

First-declension noun.

• bīgātus

• biiugus

• “biga”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "biga", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “biga”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “biga”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

biga

1. Latin spelling of ბიგა (biga)

• pīga

Related to Old Norse bingr (“heap”) (English bing), from a Proto-Germanic derivative of Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick”), see also Sanskrit बहुल (bahula, “abundant”).^[1]

bīga f

1. pile, heap

• Middle High German: bīge
  • Alemannic German: Biigi
  • German: Beige
• → Italian: bica

• IPA^(key): /ˈbi.ɡa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɡa
• Syllabification: bi‧ga
• Homophone: Biga

Learned borrowing from Latin bīga. First attested in the first half of the 19th century.^[1]

biga f

1. (Ancient Rome, historical) biga (Roman racing chariot drawn by two horses abreast)

Borrowed from German biegen. Doublet of Boh and Bug.

biga f

1. (printing) crease (element of the die-cutting machine used to emboss the bend line of the paper)

• “biga”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)
• biga in PWN's encyclopedia

Borrowed from Latin biga.

• Hyphenation: bi‧ga

biga f (plural bigas)

1. chariot (type of vehicle)

• “biga”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “biga”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• IPA^(key): [ˈbiɡa]

biga f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of bigă

Probably from Latin bīga (“tree-trunk”)

biga

1. (Campidanese) beam

Borrowed from Spanish viga.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɡaʔ/ [ˈbiː.ɣ̠ɐʔ], /ˈbiɡa/ [ˈbiː.ɣ̠ɐ]
• Rhymes: -iɡaʔ, -iɡa
• Syllabification: bi‧ga

bigà or biga (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜄ) (carpentry)

1. girder

From either:

• From Western Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *biʀaʔ (“wild taro, elephant's ear or itching taro”). Compare Hanunoo biga and Malay bira.
• From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *biʀaq, from Proto-Austronesian *biʀaq (“wild taro, elephant's ear or itching taro”). Compare Ilocano biga, Central Bikol biga, Aklanon biga, Cebuano biga, and Malay birah.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɡaʔ/ [ˈbiː.ɣ̠ɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -iɡaʔ
• Syllabification: bi‧ga

bigà (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos)

   Synonyms: malabiga, badyang

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɡaʔ/ [ˈbiː.ɣ̠ɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -iɡaʔ
• Syllabification: bi‧ga

bigà (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. flat lowland

   Synonyms: lambak, libis

Possibly Chinese.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɡaʔ/ [ˈbiː.ɣ̠ɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -iɡaʔ
• Syllabification: bi‧ga

bigà (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. damp or swampy ground

   Synonyms: labon, latian, tanlak, tunlak

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbiɡaʔ/ [ˈbiː.ɣ̠ɐʔ]
• Rhymes: -iɡaʔ
• Syllabification: bi‧ga

bigà (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜄ)

1. root of words meaning "glibness of the tongue", such as malabiga

   Synonyms: daldal, kadaldalan

2. root of words meaning "fault-finding habit", such as malabiga

   Synonym: pagkamapintasan

• “biga”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*biRaʔ”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI
• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*biRaq”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

• ibag, giba, igba, gab-i, gabi