Besides

How to spell besides

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce besides

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does besides mean?

1. prepositionIn addition to, or apart from, something already mentioned.
2. adverbMoreover; used to add a further point to what has been said.

Besides in a sentence

• preposition

  Besides her salary, she earns a small income from freelance work.

• adverb

  The hotel was too expensive, and besides it was miles from the station.

• preposition

  No one besides the manager has a key to the safe.

• adverb

  The trip looked unappealing, and besides there was far too much work to finish.

Where does besides come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grew out of Old English be sidan, literally 'by the side', a phrase formed from the preposition be ('by') and side ('the flank or edge of the body'). In Middle English the form 'beside' settled in to mean physically next to something, while a separate version picked up the old adverbial -s ending, the same surviving genitive marker seen in words like 'always' and 'towards'. That added -s gradually specialised 'besides' into the meaning 'in addition to' or 'apart from', leaving plain 'beside' to carry the literal sense of position. The two forms have been distinct since roughly the 1400s, although careful writers still mix them up. The final -s is therefore not a plural at all but a fossilised grammatical ending, and remembering that it signals the 'in addition' meaning is the easiest way to keep besides and beside apart.

How the word is built

• be- (by)
• side (the flank, edge)
• -s (adverbial genitive ending)