From names to wordsEveryday life

biro

The Hungarian journalist László Bíró patented a practical ballpoint pen in 1938 and, fleeing the war, built it in Argentina; there it is still a birome, in Britain and the Commonwealth a biro, and in Italy simply la biro.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Hungarian to Rioplatense Spanish

From English to Australian English

From English to Italian

1938Hungarian

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

Export “biro”

Embed “biro”

Save “biro”