bespeak
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L330922 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɪˈspiːk/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English bespeken, bispeken, from Old English *bespecan, besprecan (“to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisprekan (“to discuss, blame”), from Proto-Germanic *bisprekaną (“to speak about, discuss, blame”), equivalent to be- + speak. Cognate with Scots bespeke (“to beseech, speak or negotiate with”), Saterland Frisian bispreke (“to discuss”), West Frisian besprekke (“to discuss”), Dutch bespreken (“to discuss, review, debate”), German besprechen (“to discuss, review, talk about”).
- A request for a specific performance; a benefit performance, by a patron.
“"By the bye, I've been thinking of bringing out that piece of yours on her bespeak night." "When?" asked Nicholas. "The night of her bespeak. Her benefit night. When her friends and patrons bespeak the play." "Oh! I understand," replied Nicholas.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English bespeken, bispeken, from Old English *bespecan, besprecan (“to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisprekan (“to discuss, blame”), from Proto-Germanic *bisprekaną (“to speak about, discuss, blame”), equivalent to be- + speak. Cognate with Scots bespeke (“to beseech, speak or negotiate with”), Saterland Frisian bispreke (“to discuss”), West Frisian besprekke (“to discuss”), Dutch bespreken (“to discuss, review, debate”), German besprechen (“to discuss, review, talk about”).
- To speak about; tell of; relate; discuss.
“[They] bespoke dangers […] in order to scare the allies.”
- To speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance.
“concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favour”
“I walked on into the village, with the desertion of this house upon my mind, and I found the landlord of the little inn, sanding his door-step. I bespoke breakfast, and broached the subject of the house.”
- To stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour.
“to bespeak a calm hearing”
“I bespeak your patience in advance.”
- To forbode; foretell.
- To speak to; address.
“Then ſtaring on her with a ghaſtly Look, / And hollow Voice, he thus the Queen beſpoke.”
“Spurring his horse, he galloped down to the shore and bespoke them.”
- To betoken; show; indicate; depict; foretell; suggest; allude to.
“This act bespeaks his kindness.”
“When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespake him rather a monster.”
- To speak up or out; exclaim; speak.