besnow

English

Alternative forms

• besnew

Etymology

From Middle English besnewen, from Old English besnīwian (“to cover with snow”); equivalent to be- +‎ snow. Cognate with Dutch besneeuwen (“to snow, snow in”), German beschneien (“to cover with snow”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -əʊ

Verb

besnow (third-person singular simple present besnows, present participle besnowing, simple past and past participle besnowed) (transitive)

1. To snow on; to cover with snow, or as if with snow.
2. To scatter like snow.
3. To whiten with snow, or as with snow.
   • 1640 (first publication), Thomas Carew, “Obsequies to the Lady Anne Hay”, in Poems, with a Maske, […], 3rd edition, London: […] H[umphrey] M[oseley] and are to be sold by J[ohn] Martin, […], published 1651, →OCLC, page 91:

     Virgins of equall birth, [...] / Shall draw thy picture, and record thy life; / One ſhall enſphere thine eyes, another ſhall / Impearl thy teeth[,] a third thy white and ſmall / Hand ſhall beſnow, a fourth incarnadine / Thy roſie cheek, [...]

Derived terms

• besnowed

References

• “besnow”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Bownes, bownes