Standard Lemma guide

bistre

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈbɪstə(ɹ)/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈbɪstɚ/
  • rhymes with -ɪstə(ɹ)

1

noun

Meaning 1

A brown pigment made from soot, especially from beech wood.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A mid-to-dark brown color resembling the pigment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a water-soluble brownish-yellow pigment made by boiling wood soot

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bister

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pigment

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French bistre.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: bistr — brown pigment
  • Swedish: bister — brown pigment
  • Polish: bistrowy — mid-to-dark brown