beg
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English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /bɛɡ/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛɡ
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin, possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated variants of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived from Proto-West Germanic *bedu (“petition, plea”). Alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *bedagō, from Proto-Germanic *bedagô (“petitioner; requestor; beggar”), from *bedą, *bedō (“prayer; request”). Compare North Frisian bēdagi (“to pray”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”), Old English biddan (“to ask”). More at bid, bead. See also Norwegian Bokmål be (“to beg, ask”).
Verb
beg (third-person singular simple present begs, present participle begging, simple past and past participle begged)
- (intransitive) To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
- He begged on the street corner from passers-by.
- (transitive) To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
- Synonym: supplicate
- I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.
- He begged her to go to the prom with him.
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
- you do beg your good will in this case.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Matthew 27:58:
- [Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 5, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:
- 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' [...]
- (transitive) To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
- The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.
- (transitive or intransitive) To obviously lack or be in need of something.
- A captivating novel that just begs for a movie adaptation
- 1985 April 13, Philip Brasfield, “Echoes Inside of What's Outside”, in Gay Community News, page 4:
- The colors in this cell are as dull as its architects must have been. An endless expanse of drab-green textured walls, contrasting with the gray concrete floor. It begs redecoration.
- (transitive) In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
- (transitive, proscribed) In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
- Antonym: set aside
- (transitive, law, obsolete) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
- a. 1612, John Harington, Epigrams:
- Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.
Usage notes
This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Derived terms
Translations
to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
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to plead with someone for help
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Noun
beg (plural begs)
- The act of begging; an imploring request.
- 2008, Cathy Gohlke, William Henry is a Fine Name/I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires Set:
- “Lord,” I prayed, “it's a long time since I came to You for anything besides a quick beg for help. And it seems every time I come to You I'm asking something bigger, more impossible. But I'm here again. […]
See also
Etymology 2
From Proto-Turkic *bēg.
Noun
beg (plural begs)
Translations
title — see also bey
|
Etymology 3
Noun
beg
- (knitting) Abbreviation of beginning.
- 2005, DRG Dynamic Resource, Big Book of Knit Hats & Scarves for Everyone, House of White Birches, page 34:
- Knit with MC until work measures 3 inches from beg.
Further reading
Anagrams
Albanian
Pronunciation
Noun
beg (plural begj or beglerë, definite begu)
- Alternative form of bej
References
- “beg,~u”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language] (in Albanian), 1980, page 121a
- Bufli, G., Rocchi, L. (2021) “bej”, in A historical-etymological dictionary of Turkisms in Albanian (1555–1954), Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste, page 73
- Mann, S. E. (1948) “beg”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 24b
- Meyer, G. (1891) “bek-gu”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, , page 31
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك (beg).
Pronunciation
Noun
beg m (plural begs)
- (historical) Alternative form of bei.
Iban
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
beg
Malay
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio (MY) (file)
Noun
beg (Jawi spelling بيݢ)
- bag
- Beg sekolah saya berat.
- My school bag is heavy.
Manx
Etymology
From Old Irish bec, from Proto-Celtic *biggos (“small”).
Adjective
beg (plural beggey, comparative loo, superlative sloo)
Mutation
| Manx mutation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
| beg | veg | meg |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | ||
References
- G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “bec”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *běgъ.
Pronunciation
Noun
bȇg m (Cyrillic spelling бе̑г)
Declension
Declension of beg
Derived terms
References
- “beg” in Hrvatski jezični portal
Slovene
Etymology 1
From Proto-Slavic *běgъ.
Pronunciation
Noun
bẹ̑g m inan
Inflection
 |
The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks. |
| Masculine inan., hard o-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nom. sing. | bég | ||
| gen. sing. | béga | ||
| singular | dual | plural | |
| nominative (imenovȃlnik) |
bég | béga | bégi |
| genitive (rodȋlnik) |
béga | bégov | bégov |
| dative (dajȃlnik) |
bégu | bégoma | bégom |
| accusative (tožȋlnik) |
bég | béga | bége |
| locative (mẹ̑stnik) |
bégu | bégih | bégih |
| instrumental (orọ̑dnik) |
bégom | bégoma | bégi |
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Noun
bẹ̑g m anim
- bey (Turkish governor)
Inflection
|
The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks. |
| Masculine anim., hard o-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nom. sing. | bég | ||
| gen. sing. | béga | ||
| singular | dual | plural | |
| nominative (imenovȃlnik) |
bég | béga | bégi |
| genitive (rodȋlnik) |
béga | bégov | bégov |
| dative (dajȃlnik) |
bégu | bégoma | bégom |
| accusative (tožȋlnik) |
béga | béga | bége |
| locative (mẹ̑stnik) |
bégu | bégih | bégih |
| instrumental (orọ̑dnik) |
bégom | bégoma | bégi |
Further reading
- “beg”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
Volapük
Etymology
Noun
beg (nominative plural begs)
- request, an action of begging
Declension
declension of beg
Zhuang
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /peːk˧/
- Tone numbers: beg8
- Hyphenation: beg
Adjective
beg (Sawndip form 白, 1957–1982 spelling beg)
- (bound) white
Adverb
beg (Sawndip form 白, 1957–1982 spelling beg)