begift

From Middle English bigiften (“to entrust”), equivalent to be- +‎ gift. Cognate with Dutch begiften (“to endow”), German begaben (“to endow”), Swedish begåva (“to endow, dower”).

begift (third-person singular simple present begifts, present participle begifting, simple past and past participle begifted)

1. (transitive) To entrust; endow.
   • 2005, Philip R. Sullivan, The World According To Homo Sapiens:

     I suspect, for instance, that Bill Gates might not have wanted to begift such a program with the Microsoft name.

2. (transitive) To give a gift or gifts to; bestow or present with gifts.
   • 1838, Thomas Carlyle, The French revolution: a history:

     They are harangued, bedinnered, begifted,[...]

   • 1905, William Thomas Stead, The Review of reviews:

     Mr. EH Cooper protests against the extravagant manner in which the children of the well-to-do are "amused" and begifted at Christmas: [...]

   • 1974, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:

     If you are an occasional reader and would like to receive the magazine regularly — or if you are a subscriber and would like to begift a friend, colleague or relative — use the form below.

3. (transitive) To give as a gift.

• begifted
• begifter
• begifting

• begive