есть eat or have?

Question

I'm very new to learning Russian and I was wondering if the word есть has different meanings? I thought it meant eat, but then noticed it was being used in different contexts. Forgive the simplicity of my question, as I say I am just starting out.

Answer 1

This verb has a few meanings: 1) it is 3rd person singular form from "быть" - has meanings "exist", "be", but in this case, it is usually omitted, otherwise, it might have strengthening meaning, and for this purpose, it is used rather rarely. 2) "Well", "Good", "I agree", "I will do what it is ordered", (in English it is a response to the command "Ay!" It is a secondary meaning from the above-mentioned verb. 3) "Have", "There is" - "У меня есть кошка." 4) "eat" of Indo-European origin (like Latin "edo"), in its original Slavic form, the verb had the form "ъдти", in which the consonant combination "дт" got transformed into "ст". English "eat" and German "essen" are this word "relatives.

Answer 2

The word есть has different meanings.

to eat, to be, to have, to exist