beam

beam
{{11}}beam (n.) O.E. beam originally "living tree," but by late 10c. also "rafter, post, ship's timber," from W.Gmc. *baumaz (Cf. O.Fris. bam "tree, gallows, beam," M.Du. boom, O.H.G. boum, Ger. Baum "tree"), perhaps from PIE verb root *bheue- "to grow" (see BE (Cf. be)). Meaning "ray of light" developed in O.E., probably because it was used by Bede to render L. columna lucis, the Biblical "pillar of fire." Nautical sense of "one of the horizontal transverse timbers holding a ship together" is from early 13c., hence "greatest breadth of a ship," and slang broad in the beam "wide-hipped" (of persons). To be on the beam (1941) was originally an aviator's term for "to follow the course indicated by a radio beam."
{{12}}beam (v.) "emit rays of light," early 15c., from BEAM (Cf. beam) (n.) in the "ray of light" sense. Sense of "to smile radiantly" is from 1804; that of "to direct radio transmissions" is from 1927. Related: Beamed; beaming.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Beam — (b[=e]m), n. [AS. be[ a]m beam, post, tree, ray of light; akin to OFries. b[=a]m tree, OS. b[=o]m, D. boom, OHG. boum, poum, G. baum, Icel. ba[eth]mr, Goth. bagms and Gr. fy^ma a growth, fy^nai to become, to be. Cf. L. radius staff, rod, spoke of …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Beam — may refer to: *Beam (structure), a construction element *Beam (nautical), the most extreme width (or breadth) of a nautical vessel, or a point alongside the ship at the mid point of its length *A narrow, propagating stream of particles or energy …   Wikipedia

  • BEAM — (englisch „Strahl“) steht für: Beam (Robotik), Sammelbegriff für eine bestimmte Sorte von Robotern Beam (Band), ein Musikduo Breite über alles (Schiffsbreite) Beam ist der Nachname folgender Personen: Jacob Beam (1760–1839, eigentlich Johannes… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • beam — beam·age; beam; beam·er; beam·fill·ing; beam·i·ly; beam·ing·ly; beam·ish; beam·less; beam·ster; semi·beam; white·beam; mi·cro·beam; …   English syllables

  • Beam — (englisch „Strahl“) steht für: Beam (Robotik), Sammelbegriff für eine bestimmte Sorte von Robotern Beam (Band), ein Musikduo Breite über alles (Schiffsbreite) Beam ist der Nachname folgender Personen: H. Beam Piper (1904–1964), US amerikanischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • beam — ► NOUN 1) a long piece of timber or metal used as a support in building. 2) a narrow horizontal length of timber for balancing on in gymnastics. 3) a ray or shaft of light or particles. 4) a radiant smile. 5) a ship s breadth at its widest point …   English terms dictionary

  • beam — [bēm] n. [ME < OE, a tree, piece of wood, column; akin to Ger baum, Du boom, tree] 1. Obs. the squared off trunk of a tree 2. a) a long, thick piece of wood, metal, or stone, used in building b) such a piece used as a horizontal support for a… …   English World dictionary

  • Beam — est un domaine de la robotique qui cherche à construire des robots avec le minimum de composants électroniques. La condition sinéquanone pour qu un robot soir considérré comme BEAM , inventée par le roboticien Mark Tilden, est de réduire au… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Beam — 〈[bi:m] m. 6〉 Zielstrahl eines Satelliten [engl.] * * * Beam   [biːm; englisch »Richtstrahl«] der, s/ s, die Strahlungskeule eines Satellitensenders (Transponder); im Querschnitt kreisförmig, elliptisch oder in anderen gezogenen Rundformen,… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • beam — [n1] length of material used as support axle, bail, balk, bolster, boom, brace, cantilever, column, crossbar, crosspiece, girder, jamb, joist, lath, lintel, pile, piling, pillar, plank, pole, post, prop, rafter, reach, scaffolding, scantling,… …   New thesaurus

  • beam|y — «BEE mee», adjective, beam|i|er, beam|i|est. 1. like a beam; massive. 2. (of a ship) broad in the beam. 3. Figurative …   Useful english dictionary

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