bespeak

English

Etymology

From Middle English bespeken, bispeken, from Old English *bespecan, besprecan (“to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain”), from Proto-Germanic *bisprekaną (“to discuss, blame”), equivalent to be- +‎ speak. Cognate with Scots bespeke (“to beseech, speak or negotiate with”), West Frisian besprekke (“to discuss”), Dutch bespreken (“to discuss, review, debate”), German besprechen (“to discuss, review, talk about”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈspiːk/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk

Verb

bespeak (third-person singular simple present bespeaks, present participle bespeaking, simple past bespoke or (archaic) bespake, past participle bespoken or (archaic) bespoke)

1. (transitive, formal or archaic) To speak about; tell of; relate; discuss.
   • 1711, Jonathan Swift, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 3, The Examiner, Number 44, page 244

     bespoke dangers in order to scare the allies.

2. (transitive) To speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance.
   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. , volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. , →OCLC:

     concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favour

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

     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.

3. (transitive) To stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour.

   to bespeak a calm hearing;  I bespeak your patience in advance.

4. (transitive, archaic) To forbode; foretell.
5. (transitive, archaic, poetic) To speak to; address.
   • 1717, John Dryden, “Book XI. [The House of Sleep.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, page 401:

     Then ſtaring on her with a ghaſtly Look, / And hollow Voice, he thus the Queen beſpoke.

6. (transitive) To betoken; show; indicate; foretell; suggest; allude to.

   This act bespeaks his kindness.

   • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 3, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. , London: Eliz Holt, for Thomas Basset, , →OCLC:

     When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespake him rather a monster.

   • 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XVI, in Duty and Inclination: , volume II, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, page 228:

     Turning her looks unconsciously to that part of the assembly where Douglas leaned, engaged in serious contemplation, Ellina chanced to encounter his eye intently fixed upon her; the expression of which bespeaking at once pity and benevolence, her heart, mortified, reproached her for her lightness.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking. […] He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.

   • 1921, Printers' Ink, volume 114, page 50:

     Are they telling your story vividly, strikingly, in designs that command attention, in colors that bespeak distinction?

   • 1961 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 87:

     [...] the drop in speed only from 66 to 53 m.p.h. up the six miles at 1 in 176-200-167 to Saunderton summit bespoke a hard effort, [...]

7. (intransitive) To speak up or out; exclaim; speak.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

bespeak (plural bespeaks)

1. (archaic) A request for a specific performance; a benefit performance, by a patron.
   • 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, , published 1839, →OCLC:

     "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.

References

• “bespeak”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “bespeak”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• bespake

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈspɪk/
• (North Northern Scots) IPA^(key): /bəˈspɛk/

Verb

bespeak (third-person singular simple present bespeaks, present participle bespeakin, simple past bespak, past participle bespoken)

1. to bespeak