# The meaning of "bis" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541 "2003-07-01T09:24:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![G.Cornelius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@G.Cornelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Cornelius)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/1 "2003-07-01T09:24:59Z")
What is the meaning of “bis”? I have seen this in a couple of places, but I cannot find a satisfactory meaning in any dictionary. It may well be some sort of abbreviation and may be French or Latin - but I don’t know. For example, modem standards are indicated as being V.21, V.22 or V.22 _bis_. I have also seen _bis_ on the Paris Metro. In both cases, the context seems to imply a meaning such as “extension”. ---
**Author:** ![Tarantula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e274bd/32.png) [@Tarantula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarantula)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/2 "2003-07-01T09:36:54Z")
It means “twice” as in _bis_cuit - Twice cooked : hence the crunchiness… ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/3 "2003-07-01T09:50:18Z")
In terms of use seen in locations as seen on the Paris Metro, it means “encore”, “again”, and yes, I suppose you could say “extension”. “43 _bis_” is “43a” [About.com.](http://french.about.com/library/motdujour/blmdj-bis.htm) **Tarantula** is correct that _bis_ usually means “twice”. _bis dat qui ci·to dat_ – “he gives twice who gives promptly”. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/4 "2003-07-01T10:16:16Z")
As **Ice Wolf** says, _bis_ is used in house numbers in the same way that “a” is added to a number. I trained as a chemist, so will also point out another use of “bis” - it’s used in chemical names to mean “twice” in the same way as the “di-” prefix, to show that there are two of a particular unit. However, whereas you use “di-” for a simple unit (eg methyl, as in 2,2-dimethylbutane), you use “bis” where the unit that is repeated is itself a complex structure, as in 2,4-bis(2,2-dimethylbutanyl)phenol. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/5 "2003-07-01T10:18:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > \*\* it means “encore”, “again”_\* At plays and concerts, a French audience will shout **“bis!”** where an anglophonic (US/UK/CA/AU/NZ) audience would shout **"encore!"** That surprised me initially, given that **encore** is French, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/6 "2003-07-01T10:38:35Z")
Just on the word “encore”. I’ve seen etymologies point to Sir Richard Steele being the first to use it in a piece published in the _Spectator_ of 1712, but it [apparently came from 1710](http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03/7essg10.txt) and operatic performances at the Haymarket. > [@](#): > > It was about 1710 that the word encore was introduced at the operatic performances in the Haymarket, and very much objected to by plain-going Englishmen. It was also the custom of some who desired the repetition of a song to cry Altra volta! Altra volta! Ah, the strangeness of English borrowings … ---
**Author:** ![G.Cornelius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@G.Cornelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Cornelius)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/7 "2003-07-01T10:47:16Z")
Thank link is helpful although not exactly crystal clear. > [@](#): > > [bees] > > (adv) - (music) repeat, again, encore; (address) ½, a > > A la fin du concert, le groupe a joué deux bis - At the end of the concert, the group played two encores. > > Il habite 43 bis, rue vert. - He lives at 43½ (or 43a) Green Street > > Related: (adj) - grayish-brown; un itinéraire bis - detour, diversion The example “Il habite 43 bis, rue vert. - He lives at 43½ (or 43a) Green Street” seems to convey the meaning of bis in the context I have seen. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/8 "2003-07-01T11:27:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Antonius Block \* > \*\*That surprised me initially, given that **encore** is French, after all. \*\* I was amazed to discover that the french for **cul de sac** is apparently **impasse**. ---
**Author:** ![toque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@toque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toque)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/9 "2003-07-01T14:23:14Z")
Bei mir bis du schone. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/10 "2003-07-02T00:20:58Z")
In Latin, it means “twice.” ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/11 "2003-07-02T01:27:06Z")
It’s also used in some legal traditions, notably the civil law tradition and international law. If a statute or international covenant is amended by adding an entirely new article, it’s sometimes given the number of the article it follows, with “bis” added on. So if the International Kumquat Treaty is amended by adding a new article right after article 20, the new article may be cited as “International Kumquat Treaty, art. 20 _bis_.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/12 "2003-07-02T02:07:49Z")
In some uses, it has taken on the meaning “modified version” (I would guess from the extension of “encore” to indicate “second try”). Examples would include the practice of improvements in French aircraft and projects and programs by governments in which the implemented plan is a modification of the first proposal. (The latter is quite close to the example **Northern Piper** presented, except that I have seen it used in private corporations and in projects that were not laws.) ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-meaning-of-bis/185541/13 "2003-07-02T02:20:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by toque \* > \*\*Bei mir bis du schone. \*\* That’s actually “bist”.