beg

See also: bég, bèg, and beg.

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɛɡ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛɡ

Etymology 1

From Middle English beggen, assimilation from Old English *becgan, *bedcan, *bedican, syncopated variants of Old English bedecian (“to beg”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *bedagô (“petitioner; requestor; beggar”), from *bedą, *bedō (“prayer; request”). Related to North Frisian bēdagi (“to pray”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”), Old English biddan (“to ask”). More at bid, bead.

Verb

beg (third-person singular simple present begs, present participle begging, simple past and past participle begged)

  1. (intransitive) to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
    He begged on the street corner from passers-by.
  2. (transitive) to plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat
    I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to cause offence.
    He begged her to go to the prom with him.
    • Shakespeare
      I do beg your good will in this case.
    • Bible, Matthew xxvii. 58
      [Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.
    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 5
      But that same day came Sam Tewkesbury to the Why Not? about nightfall, and begged a glass of rum, being, as he said, 'all of a shake' […]
  3. (transitive) to assume, in the phrase beg the question
  4. (proscribed) to raise a question, in the phrase beg the question
  5. (law, obsolete) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
    • Harrington
      Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.
Usage notes
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

See also

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish بك‎ (beg).

Noun

beg (plural begs)

  1. a provincial governor under the Ottoman Empire, a bey
Translations

Etymology 3

Abbreviation

beg

  1. (knitting) beginning
    • 2005, DRG Dynamic Resource, House of White Birches, Big Book of Knit Hats & Scarves for Everyone (page 34)
      Knit with MC until work measures 3 inches from beg.

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك‎ (beg).

Noun

beg m (plural begs)

  1. (historical) Alternative form of bei.

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from English bag.

Noun

beg (Jawi spelling بيݢ)

  1. bag

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish bec, from Proto-Celtic *bikkos (“small”).

Adjective

beg (plural beggey, comparative loo)

  1. small

Mutation

Manx mutation
RadicalLenitionEclipsis
begvegmeg
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  • “bec” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك‎ (“ruler”)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bêɡ/

Noun

bȅg m (Cyrillic spelling бе̏г)

  1. (regional) master, lord

Declension

Derived terms

References

  • “beg” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Slovene

Etymology 1

Related to Serbo-Croatian bijeg

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbéːk/
  • Tonal orthography: bẹ̑g

Noun

bég m inan (genitive béga, nominative plural bégi)

  1. run
  2. getaway
  3. escape
  4. withdrawal
  5. (phrase) flight
    Planiti v beg ― To take flight
Declension

Etymology 2

From Turkish bey.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbéːk/
  • Tonal orthography: bẹ̑g

Noun

bég m anim (genitive béga, nominative plural bégi)

  1. bey (Turkish governor)
Declension

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from English beg.

Noun

beg (plural begs)

  1. request, an action of begging

Declension

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.