Biz

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /bɪz/

Definitions

1. A slang term indicating business dealings or commercial activities
2. An informal abbreviation representing the field of commerce or professional work
3. A casual word used to refer to business or commercial activities in general

Etymology: "Biz" is one of those words that started life as a mangled pronunciation of something else. Its ancestor is "business," which in English is a clipped, slurred form that speakers reduced over centuries until the middle syllables fell away. The shortened spelling and pronunciation became a clipped informal noun in American English, where it is used for commercial activity in general, often with a casual or slightly slangy tone. The shortening is not a deliberate abbreviation but a natural reduction of a common word spoken quickly and often. Because "business" was so frequent, its pronunciation wore down into a single stressed syllable, and that worn form was eventually written down as "biz."

Synonyms: business, company, firm, enterprise, corporation