better

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• /ˈbɛt.ə/ non-rhotic
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• Received-Pronunciation: [ˈbɛth.ə]
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• Australian: [ˈbeɾ.ə]
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• New-Zealand: [ˈbeɾ.ɐ]
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• [ˈbeʔ.ə] UK, t-glottalization
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• [ˈbɛʔ.ɐ] Dublin
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• /ˈbɛt.əɹ/ rhotic
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• Canada, General-American: [ˈbɛɾ.ɚ]
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• Ireland: [ˈbɛth.ɚ~ˈbɛθ̠.ɚ~ˈbɛt̪.ɚ]
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• Scotland: [ˈbɛʔ.ɚ~ˈbɛʔ.əɾ]
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• rhymes with -ɛtə(ɹ)
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• CMU ARPABET: B EH1 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From Middle English better, bettre, betre, from Old English betera (“better”), from Proto-West Germanic *batiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *batizô (“better”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhed-rós, from *bhed- (“good”). Cognate with Dutch beter, German besser, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål bedre, Norwegian Nynorsk betre, Swedish bättre, Faroese and Icelandic betri. Also Sanskrit भ॒द्र (bhadrá, “blessed; fortunate; happy; good”) (from *bhn̥d-ró-s). Related to best and battle (“getting better; improving; fruitful; fertile”). Compare also Icelandic batna (“to improve”), bót (“improvement”), German besser. More at batten, boot. False cognate of Persian بهتر (behtar).

Alternative spelling of bettor or modern formation from the verb to bet + -er.

Shortening of had better ('d better).

From Middle English beteren, from Old English beterian, betrian, from Proto-Germanic *batizōną. Cognate with West Frisian betterje (“to better”), Dutch beteren (“to better”), German bessern (“to better”), Danish bedre (“to better”), Swedish bättra (“to better”).

193 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Alviri-Vidari: ودرتر (vaderter) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Arabic: أَفْضَل (ʔafḍal) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Arabic: أَحْسَن (ʔaḥsan) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Armenian: ավելի լավ (aveli lav) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Assamese: -কৈ ভাল (-koi bhal) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Asturian: meyor — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Basque: hobe — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Belarusian: ле́пшы (ljépšy) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Bengali: আরও ভাল (arō bhalo) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Bengali: আফজল (afjol) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Breton: gwell — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Breton: gwelloc'h — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Bulgarian: по-добър (po-dobǎr) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Catalan: millor — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Chinese Mandarin: 更好 (gèng hǎo) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Chinese Mandarin: 比較好的 /比较好的 (bǐjiào hǎo de) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Chinese Mandarin: 較好的 /较好的 (jiào hǎo de) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Cornish: gwell — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Czech: lepší — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Danish: bedre — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Dutch: beter — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Esperanto: pli bona — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Estonian: parem — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Faroese: betri — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Finnish: parempi — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• French: meilleur — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Friulian: miôr — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Galician: mellor — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Georgian: უკეთესი (uḳetesi) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Georgian: უმჯობესი (umǯobesi) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• German: besser — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌶𐌰 (batiza) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Greek: καλύτερος (kalýteros) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ancient Greek: βελτίων (beltíōn) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ancient Greek: κρείσσων (kreíssōn) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ancient Greek: καλλίων (kallíōn) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ancient Greek: βέλτερος (bélteros) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Hindi: बेहतर (behtar) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Hungarian: jobb — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Icelandic: betri — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ido: plu bona — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ido: maxim — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Indonesian: lebih baik — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Interlingua: melior — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Irish: níos fearr — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Italian: migliore — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Italian: meglio — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Jamaican Creole: beta — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Japanese: もっといい — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Japanese: より良い (yoriyoi) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Karelian: parempi — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Korean: 더 좋은 (deo jo'eun) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Northern Kurdish: baştir — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ladin: miec — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Latin: melior — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Latin: potior — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Macedonian: подобар (podobar) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Malay: lebih baik — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Malay: lebih bagus — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Khiamniungan Naga: tǖmêi — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Neapolitan: meglio — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Norman: miyeu — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Norwegian Bokmål: bedre — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Norwegian Nynorsk: betre — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Occitan: melhor — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Old English: betera — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Pannonian Rusyn: лєпши (ljepši) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Persian: بِهتَر (behtar) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Persian: بختر (bextar) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Plautdietsch: bäta — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Polish: lepszy — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Portuguese: melhor — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Romani: feder — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Romanian: mai bun — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Romanian: mai bine — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Romansh: meglier — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Russian: лу́чше (lúčše) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Russian: лу́чший (lúčšij) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Sanskrit: श्रेयस् (śreyas) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Sardinian: meglius — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Sardinian: megnus — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Sardinian: mellus — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Scottish Gaelic: nas fheàrr — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Serbo-Croatian: бо̏ље̄ — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Serbo-Croatian: bȍljē — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Serbo-Croatian: bolji — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Sicilian: megghiu — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Sindhi: بِهتَر (bihtar) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Slovak: lepší — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Slovene: bóljši — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Spanish: mejor — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Sranan Tongo: betre — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Swahili: bora — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Swedish: bättre — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Thai: ดีกว่า — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Turkish: daha iyi — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ukrainian: кра́щий (kráščyj) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Ukrainian: лі́пший (lípšyj) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Urdu: بہتر (behtar) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Venetan: mejo — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Veps: paremba — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Vietnamese: tốt hơn — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Vietnamese: khá hơn — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Vietnamese: khoẻ hơn — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Volapük: gudikum — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Võro: parõmb — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Walloon: meyeu — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Welsh: gwell — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Yakut: бэт (bet) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Yiddish: בעסער (beser) — comparative of the adjectives good or well
• Armenian: ավելի լավ (aveli lav) — comparative of the adverb well
• Belarusian: лепш (ljepš) — comparative of the adverb well
• Belarusian: ле́пей (ljépjej) — comparative of the adverb well
• Bulgarian: по-добре (po-dobre) — comparative of the adverb well
• Ngazidja Comorian: ndro raha — comparative of the adverb well
• Czech: lépe — comparative of the adverb well
• Czech: líp — comparative of the adverb well
• Danish: bedre — comparative of the adverb well
• Dutch: beter — comparative of the adverb well
• Finnish: paremmin — comparative of the adverb well
• French: mieux — comparative of the adverb well
• Friulian: miei — comparative of the adverb well
• Friulian: miôr — comparative of the adverb well
• Galician: mellor — comparative of the adverb well
• Georgian: ჯობს (ǯobs) — comparative of the adverb well
• Georgian: ჯობია (ǯobia) — comparative of the adverb well
• German: besser — comparative of the adverb well
• Greek: καλύτερα (kalýtera) — comparative of the adverb well
• Greek: κάλλιο (kállio) — comparative of the adverb well
• Hungarian: jobban — comparative of the adverb well
• Icelandic: betur — comparative of the adverb well
• Interlingua: melio — comparative of the adverb well
• Italian: meglio — comparative of the adverb well
• Latvian: labāk — comparative of the adverb well
• Norwegian: bedre — comparative of the adverb well
• Old English: bet — comparative of the adverb well
• Pannonian Rusyn: лєпше (ljepše) — comparative of the adverb well
• Polish: lepiej — comparative of the adverb well
• Portuguese: melhor — comparative of the adverb well
• Romanian: mai bine — comparative of the adverb well
• Romanian: mai bun — comparative of the adverb well
• Russian: лу́чше (lúčše) — comparative of the adverb well
• Sanskrit: श्रेयस् (śreyas) — comparative of the adverb well
• Sardinian: meglius — comparative of the adverb well
• Slovak: lepšie — comparative of the adverb well
• Slovene: bólje — comparative of the adverb well
• Slovene: bóljše — comparative of the adverb well
• Spanish: mejor — comparative of the adverb well
• Spanish: mejores — comparative of the adverb well
• Swahili: bora — comparative of the adverb well
• Swedish: bättre — comparative of the adverb well
• Turkish: daha iyi — comparative of the adverb well
• Turkish: yakşırak — comparative of the adverb well
• Ukrainian: кра́ще (krášče) — comparative of the adverb well
• Ukrainian: лі́пше (lípše) — comparative of the adverb well
• Volapük: gudikumo — comparative of the adverb well
• Arabic: حَسَّنَ (ḥassana) — to improve
• Bulgarian: подобрявам (podobrjavam) — to improve
• Catalan: millorar — to improve
• Esperanto: plibonigi — to improve
• Finnish: parantaa — to improve
• French: améliorer — to improve
• Friulian: miorâ — to improve
• Galician: mellorar — to improve
• Georgian: გაუმჯობესება (gaumǯobeseba) — to improve
• Georgian: გამოსწორება (gamosc̣oreba) — to improve
• German: verbessern — to improve
• Gothic: 𐌱𐍉𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bōtjan) — to improve
• Italian: migliorare — to improve
• Norwegian: forbedre — to improve
• Persian: بهبودن — to improve
• Persian: بهبودی — to improve
• Polish: poprawiać — to improve
• Polish: poprawić — to improve
• Polish: polepszać — to improve
• Polish: polepszyć — to improve
• Portuguese: melhorar — to improve
• Romanian: îmbunătăți — to improve
• Russian: улучша́ть (ulučšátʹ) — to improve
• Russian: улу́чшить (ulúčšitʹ) — to improve
• Slovak: zlepšiť — to improve
• Slovak: vylepšiť — to improve
• Spanish: mejorar — to improve
• Swahili: bora — to improve
• Swedish: förbättra — to improve
• Volapük: gudükumön — to improve
• Welsh: gwella — to improve
• Arabic: تَحَسَّنَ (taḥassana) — to become better
• Pohnpeian: kamwahu — to become better
• Russian: улучша́ться (ulučšátʹsja) — to become better
• Russian: улу́чшиться (ulúčšitʹsja) — to become better
• Russian: превосходи́ть (prevosxodítʹ) — to surpass in excellence
• Russian: превзойти́ (prevzojtí) — to surpass in excellence