býsn

n. [cp. A. S. bysen, bisen, which means example, whilst the Icel. word means] a wonder, a strange and portentous thing; commonly Used in pl., urðu hverskonar býsn, 625. 42; þar sem þessi býsn (acc. pl.) bar fyrir, Fms. xi. 13; þetta eru stór býsn, 64; slíkt eru banvæn býsn, Fas. iii. 13 (in a verse); sing., Fms. xi. 10, 64: in mod. use fem. sing., Fb. i. 212, Pr. 76, 91; býsna-veðr, portentous weather, Fms. iii. 137; býsna-vetr, a winter of portents, when many ghosts and goblins were about, Bs., Sturl. i. 115; býsna-sumar, in the same sense, Ann. 1203. In mod. use býsna- is prefixed to a great many words in the sense of pretty, tolerably, Germ. ziemlich; býsna-vel, b. góðr, langr, fljótr, pretty well, pretty good, etc. in early writers the sense is much stronger.