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bye¹ also by

(bī)

1. A secondary matter; a side issue.

2. Sports The position of one who draws no opponent for a round in a tournament and so advances to the next round.

Idiom:

by the bye/by

By the way; incidentally.

[From BY¹.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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