sabe

See also: sabé, saʼbe, and Sabe

English

Etymology

From Spanish sabe, inclined form of saber.

Verb

sabe (third-person singular simple present sabes, present participle sabeing, simple past and past participle sabed)

1. To understand.
   • 1921, W.C. Tuttle, The Devil's Dooryard‎^[1]:

     The longer I lives with that blamed hatchet-face cross between a danged fool and a heavenly angel, the less I sabe his wau-wau.

   • 1920, Joseph Allan Dunn, Turquoise Cañon‎^[2], Doubleday, Page, page 218:

     Jimmy sabe'd the emphasis on the "inclined" and nodded.

   • 1917, Charles Alden Seltzer, The Vengeance of Jefferson Gawne‎^[3], A. C. McClurg & Company, page 92:

     He sabes that my writin' ain't in no ways a serious effort, 'cause he knows I could do a heap better - if I tried.

   • 2023, Oliver North, Rambles After Sport‎^[4], page 182:

     They spend half their time in smoking cigarettes, and the other in quien-sabeing.

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish sabe (“knows”).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: sa‧be

Verb

sabe

1. (pseudoverb) to know

Fuyug

Noun

sabe

1. saliva

References

• Andrew Pawley et al., "The Trans New Guinea family", in The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide (2018, →ISBN)

Galician

Verb

sabe

1. inflection of saber:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Kabuverdianu

Etymology

Derived from Portuguese saber.

Verb

sabe

1. to know

Macanese

Alternative forms

• sá, sabi, sábi

Etymology

From Portuguese sabe, irregularly borrowing from the third-person present form of saber (which would have yielded *sabê). See têm for a similar phenomenon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bi/, /ˈsa.bɛ/

Verb

sabe

1. (ambitransitive) to know

   Qui sabe! ― Who knows! / How should I know!

   Dios sabe. ― God knows.

   Iou nôm sabe úndi já rafundí iou-sa ôclo.

   I don't know where I put my glasses.

   Nôs sabe têm na úndi.

   We know where it is.

Usage notes

• sábi is a relatively common alternative spelling.

Related terms

• sabichám (“know-it-all”)

References

• https://www.macaneselibrary.org/pub/english/uipatua.htm

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bi/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bɨ/ [ˈsa.βɨ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bɨ/ [ˈsa.βɨ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsa.bɨ/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -abi, (Portugal) -abɨ
• Hyphenation: sa‧be

Verb

sabe

1. inflection of saber:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsabe/ [ˈsa.β̞e]
• Rhymes: -abe
• Syllabification: sa‧be

Verb

sabe

1. inflection of saber:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative