Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To allow; permit; suffer.
- To vouchsafe; accord; give.
- To bring forth; produce; shed.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To give ; to bestow; to grant; to accord; to consent.
- transitive verb obsolete To allow; to permit; to suffer.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive, rare To
pour all about. - verb transitive, obsolete To
bring forth ;produce ;shed . - verb transitive, obsolete To
permit ;allow ;suffer . - verb transitive, obsolete To
grant ,vouchsafe (something to someone);accord ;give . - verb transitive, dialectal To
bestow ;afford ;allow ;deign .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From be- + teem (“to empty, pour”).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From be- + teem (“to produce”).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From be- + teem (“to befit”). Cognate with Dutch betamen ("to befit, behove, beseem").
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Examples
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He would not 'beteem the winds of heaven' to 'Visit her face too roughly', Hamlet recalls.
Shakespeare Bevington, David 2002
Comments
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