beseech

English

Alternative forms

• beseek

Etymology

From Middle English besechen, bisechen, prefixed form of Old English sēċan (“to seek or inquire about”); compare the doublet beseek, from the same dialect that gave seek. Cognate with Saterland Frisian besäike (“to visit”), Dutch bezoeken (“to visit, attend, see”), German besuchen (“to visit, attend, see”), Swedish besöka (“to visit, go to see”). By surface analysis, be- +‎ seech.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĭ-sēchʹ, IPA^(key): /bɪˈsiːt͡ʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːtʃ

Verb

beseech (third-person singular simple present beseeches, present participle beseeching, simple past and past participle beseeched or besought) (transitive)

1. To beg or implore something of (a person).
   • [1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XX, Chapter iii, leaf 401r:

     Moost noble crysten Quene I byseche yow as ye haue ben euer my specyal good lady and I at al tymes your true poure knyghte vnto my power and as I neuer fayled yow in ryghte nor in wrong sythen the fyrst day kynge Arthur made me knyghte that ye wylle praye for my soule yf that I here be slayne;
     "Most noble Christian queen, I beseech you as ye have been ever my special good lady, and I at all times your true poor knight unto my power, and as I never failed you in right nor in wrong sithen the first day King Arthur made me knight, that ye will pray for my soul if that I here be slain;"]

   • 1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “The Introites, Collectes, Epistles, and Gospels, to be Used at the Celebracion of the Lordes Supper & Holye Communion, throughe the Yeare: With Proper Psalmes, and Lessons for Diuers Feastes and Dayes. [The Accencion Daie. Proper Psalms and Lessons.]”, in The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC, folio lxviii, recto:

     [W]e beſche thee, leaue vs not comfortles, but ſende to vs thine holy ghoſt to comfort vs, and exalte vs vnto thy ſame place, whither our ſauiour Chriſte is gone before: […]

   • 1748, [David Hume], Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     after what manner, I beseech you, must the mind proceed in this operation?

   • 1887 March 25, Rudyard Kipling, “Watches of the Night”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co.; London: W. Thacker & Co., published 1888, →OCLC:

     She besought him, for his Soul's sake to speak the truth.

   • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XXXI, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:

     Panting a little in his haste, he told her how miserable he was; he besought her to have mercy on him; he promised, if she would forgive him, to do everything she wanted.

   • 2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, Nintendo 3DS, level/area: Royal Pond:

     [King Knight defeats the Troupple King.] / Troupple Acolyte: 'HALT! I BESEECH THEE! PLEASE, NO MORE!'

2. To beg or request for (something).
   • 1990, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, transl., The Brothers Karamazov, San Francisco, North Point Press, →ISBN, page 657:

     [T]he tickets had all been given out, begged, besought long ago.

Derived terms

• beseecher
• beseechment

Related terms

• seek

Translations

to beg

• Arabic: تَوَسَّلَ (ar) (tawassala), اِلْتَمَسَ (iltamasa)
• Armenian: աղերսել (hy) (aġersel)
• Bulgarian: умолявам (bg) (umoljavam), прося (bg) (prosja)
• Catalan: pregar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哀求 (zh) (āiqiú), 懇求 / 恳求 (zh) (kěnqiú)

• Czech: doprošovat se impf, zapřísahat pf, prosit (cs) impf
• Danish: bønfalde
• Dutch: bezweren (nl), bidden (nl), smeken (nl)
• Finnish: rukoilla (fi), anoa (fi)
• French: prier (fr), implorer (fr), supplier (fr)
• Galician: rogar
• German: anflehen (de), ersuchen (de), bitten (de)
• Greek: ικετεύω (el) (iketévo)

  Ancient: ἱκετέω (hiketéō), παρακαλέω (parakaléō)

• Irish: achair
• Italian: supplicare (it), implorare (it)
• Latin: petō (la), dēprecor
• Malayalam: യാചിക്കുക (ml) (yācikkuka)
• Nahuatl: eitloa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bønnfalle, trygle (no), be (no)

• Plautdietsch: prachren
• Polish: błagać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: rogar (pt), implorar (pt)
• Romanian: implora (ro)
• Russian: умоля́ть (ru) impf (umoljátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: preklinjati (sh)
• Slovak: doprosovať sa impf
• Spanish: rogar (es), implorar (es), suplicar (es)
• Swahili: kuomba (sw), kusihi (sw)
• Swedish: bönfalla (sv)
• Volapük: bekön

Noun

beseech (plural beseeches)

1. (archaic) A request.
   • 1617, pseudo-Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, Philip Massinger, Rollo, Duke of Normandy, or the Bloody Brother, act IV, scene III:

     Good madam, hear the suit that Edith urges, With such submiss beseeches; [...]

Anagrams

• Beeches, beeches, beseche