belike

See also: be like

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English beliken (“to simulate, feign”), equivalent to be- +‎ like.

Verb

belike (third-person singular simple present belikes, present participle beliking, simple past and past participle beliked)

  1. (transitive) To make like; simulate.
  2. (transitive) To be like; resemble.
    • 2000, Helen May Dennis, Ezra Pound and poetic influence:
      The most beautiful passages of Arnaut are in the canzo beginning: Sweet cries and cracks and lays and chants inflected By auzels who, in their Latin belikes.

Etymology 2

From be- +‎ like.

Verb

belike (third-person singular simple present belikes, present participle beliking, simple past and past participle beliked)

  1. (impersonal) To be pleasing to; please.
    • 1903, The story of King Arthur and his knights:
      Yea," said King Arthur, " it belikes me more than any horse that I ever beheld before." " Then," quoth Queen Morgana, "consider it as a gift of reconciliation betwixt thee and me. [...]"
  2. (transitive) To like; be pleased with.
Derived terms

Noun

belike (plural belikes)

  1. An object of affection or liking.
    She will always be one of my belikes.

Etymology 3

From be- +‎ like.

Adverb

belike (not comparable)

  1. (archaic or dialectal, Northern England) Likely, probably, perhaps.
    • 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Printed by Iohn Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069; The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd corrected and augmented edition, Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1624, OCLC 54573970, (please specify |partition=1, 2, or 3):
      , III.1.2.iii:
      For that reason, belike, Homer feigns the three Graces to be linked and tied hand in hand, because the hearts of men are so firmly united with such graces.
    • 1904, Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill
      And when the pedants bade us mark / What cold mechanic happenings / Must come; our souls said in the dark, / "Belike; but there are likelier things."
    • 1991, Roger Zelazny & Robert Sheckley, Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming, Bantam Books, New York, page 205:
      Princess Scarlet fanned herself with the Chinese fan that Supply had provided and, turning to Achmed Ali, said in formal tones, "Belike, sir, I've not seen thy match for overall all-in dancing eftsoons.

Anagrams

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