Besom, sb. (Is. xiv. 23). A.-S. besem, besm, ‘a rod, broom.' 'In Devonshire the name bisam or bassam is given to the heath-plant, because used for making besoms, as conversely as a besom is called broom, from being made of broom twigs' (Wedgwood, Dict. of E. Etym. s. v.). The word is still common as a provincialism.

I am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such filth as thou art. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI. IV. 7.

The tamariske, good for nothing but to make beesoms of. Holland's Pliny, XVI. 26.

66

Bestead, adj. (Is. viii. 21). Situated. A.-S. stede, a place, stead (as in steady, instead, homestead, &c.). Tyrwhitt calls it an Anglo-Saxon past participle. Hardly bestead," in the above passage, therefore, signifies "placed in difficulty," and thus corresponds with the Hebrew. Many examples might be given:-"bestad, or withe-holdyn yn wele or wo, in hard plyt set." Promptorium Parvulorum.

Have ye not seye som tyme a pale face,
Among a prees, of him that hath be lad
Toward his deth, wher him geyneth no grace,
And such a colour in his face hath had,
Men mighte knowe his face was so bystad,
Among alle the faces in that route.

Chaucer, Man of Law's Tale, 5069.

She saith, that she shall nought be glad,
Till that she se him so bestad,

That he no more make avaunt.

Gower, Conf. Am. 1. p. 129.

As a mariner that amasid is in a stormy rage,
Hardly bestad and driven is to hope

Of that the tempestuows wynde wyll aswage.

Skelton's Works, I. 395, ed. Dyce.

Thus ill bestedd, and fearefull more of shame,
Then of the certaine perill he stood in.

Spenser, F. Q. I. 1. § 24.

I never saw a fellow worse bestead,

Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant.

Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI. II. 3.

Others are so hardly bested for loading that they are faine to retaile the cinders of Troy. Sidney, Introd. to Astrophel and Stella.

I had lever, Cornix, go supperlesse to bed,
Than at such a feast to be so bested.

So y-stade was used:

He was never so hard y-stade
For wele ne for wo.

Barclay, Eclog. p. xlvi.

Sir Degrevant, 1631.

Bestow, v. t. (1 Kin. x. 26; 2 Kin. v. 24; 2 Chr. ix. 25: Luke xii. 17, 18). From A.-S. stow 'a place,' which still exists in the names of towns, as Stowe, Stow-market, Waltham-stow. Hence 'bestow' signifies 'to put in a place, stow away, dispose of.'

The care of prouidinge for a familie, of gettinge, manageinge, and bestowinge an estate. The Autobiography of Sir John Bramston, p. 2.

Then was the Archebishop of Yorke and doctour Morton bishoppe of Ely and the lorde Stanley taken and diuers other, whiche were bestowed in dyuers chambers. Hall, Ed. V. fol. xiv. b.

Hence and bestow your luggage where you found it.

Shakespeare, Temp. V. I.

It is used by Latimer in a sense which seems to mark the transition to the now more usual meaning, 'give, confer, impart ;'

Evermore bestow the greatest part of thy goods in works of mercy. Serm. p. 23..

Bacon uses 'bestowing' as a substantive, for placing or settling in life:

Men have their time, and die many times in desire of some things, which they principally take to heart; the bestowing of a child, the finishing of a worke, or the like. Ess. XXVII. p. 114.

Bethink, v. reft. (1 Kin. viii. 47; 2 bepencan 'to call to mind, remember.'

Chr. vi. 37). A.-S.
Halliwell calls it

a north-country word: it certainly is common in Yorkshire, and probably elsewhere.

Kyng Wyllam bypozte hym ek of þe volc þat was verlore.

Rob. of Glouc. 368.

Vor hii by penchep hem ywys

Hou hii myşte best fle.

Ibid. 458.

In Wiclif it is used intransitively:

Therfore if thou offrist thi zift at the auter, and there shalt bythenke that thi brother hath sum what azeins thee, leeue there thi zift before the auter. Wiclif (1), Matt. v. 23.

Betimes, adv. Early, in good time. It occurs several times in our translation (Gen. xxvi. 31; 2 Chr. xxxvi. 15, &c.), but has no corresponding word in the original; the idea of early is included, however, in the two roots which it helps to render, viz. shakhar, 'to seek early,' and shacam, 'to rise early.'

Shakespeare uses betime in the same sense. The etymology seems to be ‘by time, i. e. good time;' thus,

By tyme ychabbe yþoşte. Rob. of Glouc. p. 312.

If he bi tyme had gon. Rob. Brunne, p. 264.

If men be so negligent that they descharge it nought by Chaucer, Parson's Tale.

tyme.

Bettered, pp. (Mark v. 26). Made better. The word is antiquated though not obsolete. It is from A.-S. bétrian or béterian.

Christe on euery side fensing those that are his, turneth the deiuelishe attemptates of the others, to the profiting and bettering of the porcion that is vncorrupted. Udal's Erasmus, Luke, f. 65 r.

The works of nature do always aim at that which cannot be bettered. Hooker, Eccl. Pol.

Left solely heir to all his lands and goods
Which I have bettered rather than decreased.

Shakespeare, Tam. of Shrew, II. 1.

He is furnished with my opinion: which, bettered with his own learning (the greatness whereof I cannot enough commend), comes with him. Id. Mer. of Ven. IV. I.

Bewray, v.t. (Prov. xxvii. 16; xxix. 24; Is. xvi. 3; Matt. xxvi. 73). From A. S. wrégan or wreian to accuse; connected with Goth. vrohjan and G. rügen. To accuse, hence, to point out, discover; sometimes used synonymously with betray, though the idea of treachery involved in the latter is not implied in bewray. In the above passages the original words are respectively proclaim, tell, discover, and make evident, which are each of them sufficiently well expressed by bewray.

Bewreye not your council to no person.

Chaucer, Tale of Melibeus.

And when the fortune is bewreied
How that constance is come about.

Gower, Conf. Am. I. p. 210.

The boylyng smoke did styl bewray
The persant heate of secrete flame.

Surrey, Son. 3.

Here comes the queen whose looks bewray her anger.
Shakespeare, 3 Hen. VI. I. 1.

In the following passage from Hall (Rich. III. fol. 16 a), bewray and betray are used interchangeably:

Whether thys Banaster bewrayed the duke more for feare the covetous many men do doubt: but sure it is, that shortly after he had betrayed ye duke his maister, his sonne and heyre waxed mad.

The simple wreye, or wraie, is used in Chaucer in the same sense,

Thou schalt upon thy trouthe swere me heere,
That to no wight thou schalt this counsel wreye.
Miller's Tale, 3502.

Bewrayer, sb. (2 Macc. iv. 1). An informer. Baret, (Alvearie, s. v.) gives, A bewrayer or discoverer. Index.

6

Bibber, sb. (Prov. xxiii. 20; Matt. xi. 19; Luke vii. 34). A drinker, in the compound 'wine-bibber,' from the Lat. bibere to drink.

For hee was thought to be a greater bibber then he was, because he sate long at the bourd, rather to talke then drinke. North's Plutarch, Alex. p. 729.

Chaucer uses the verb 'bib:'

This meller hath so wysly bibbed ale,

That as an hors he snortith in his sleep.

Bidden, pp.

Reeve's Tale, 4160.

I. Asked, invited (1 Sam. ix. 13;

Matt. xxii. 3, 4, 9, &c.); A. S. beden.

And he sente his seruantis for to clepe men beden to the weddyngis and thei wolden nat cume. Wiclif (1), Matt. xxii. 3.

Some were of opinion that Socrates began it, who perswaded Aristodemus upon a time, being not bidden to goe with him to a feast at Agathons house, where there fell out a pretie jest and a ridiculous. Holland's Plutarch, Morals, p. 753.

2. Commanded, ordered (2 Sam. xvi. 11; Matt. i. 24). If he will not stand when he is bidden, he is none of the prince's subjects. Shakespeare, Much Ado, III. 3.

Bide, v.t. (Wisd. viii. 12). To abide, await; A. S. bidan.

Well, sir, for want of other idleness I'll bide your proof. Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, 1. 5.

Bile, sb. (Lev. xiii. 18, 20). A boil; in the ed. of 1611. See the quotation from Cotgrave's Fr. Dict. under Вотсн.

Laid to as a cerot with pitch, it resolueth pushes and biles. Holland's Pliny, XX. 13.

Bitternesses, sb. (Lam. iii. 15 m.). A Hebraism. Blain, sb. (Exod. ix. 9, 10). A. S. blægen, a boil, blister. The word is commonly used in the West Riding to denote a large pustule or boil.