betan

Basque

Noun

betan

1. inessive indefinite of be

Iban

Etymology

be- +‎ tan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bətan/

Verb

betan

1. defend

   Munsuh nguji betan ba kuta sida.

   The enemies are trying to defend on their fort.

2. survive
3. hope/depend on (something)

   Kami betan ba iya setaun tu.

   We depend on him the whole year.

Old English

Alternative forms

• bœ̄tan

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *bōtijan, from Proto-Germanic *bōtijaną, derived from *bōtō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeː.tɑn/

Verb

bētan

1. (transitive) to improve
   • c. 900, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Þā þing þe hē unfulfremed ġemētte, mid heora fultume hē þā rihte and bētte.

     Anything that was imperfect when he found it, he set right and improved with their help.

   • 11th century, "Æcerbot Charm"

     Hēr is sēo bōt, hū þū meaht þīne æcras bētan ġif hīe nyllaþ wel weaxan oþþe þǣr hwelċ unġedēfe þing on ġedōn biþ on drȳ oþþe on lyblāce.

     Here is the remedy for how you can improve your fields if they won’t grow well or something harmful has been done to them by a wizard or through witchcraft.

2. to fix, repair
   • early 11th century, Wulfstan, "Larspell"

     Uton lufian ūre ċirican, for þon hēo biþ ūre friðiġend and werġend on Dōmes Dæġe. And wyrċen wē simle bryċġe and þā bētan.

     Let’s love our church, because it will be our defender and protector at the Last Judgment. And let’s always build bridges and repair them.

   • c. 900, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     On þisse ċirican ǣrest þā hālgan lārēowas ongunnon samnian and singan and ġebiddan and mæssesang dōn and menn lǣran and fulwian, oþ þæt sē cyning tō ġelēafan ġeċierred wæs and māran lēafnesse onfēngon ofer eall tō lǣrenne and ċirican tō timbriġenne and tō bētenne.

     This is the church where the holy teachers first began to gather and sing and pray and hold mass and teach and baptize people, before the king was converted to Christianity and they received more permission to teach everywhere and to build and repair churches.

   • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

     Corrigō: Iċ bēte sume lēase bōc oþþe iċ styriġe sumum stuntum menn.

     Corrigo: I amend a faulty book or I exhort a foolish person.

3. to atone or compensate for
   • c. 899, Alfred the Great, Psalm 36:9

     Þā þe yfel dōþ and þæt ne bētaþ, hīe bēoþ āwyrtwalode of eorðan.

     Those who do evil and do not atone for it will be uprooted from the earth.

4. to make or attend to a fire or a lamp
   • c. 900, Werferth, translation of the Dialogues of Gregory

     Sume nihte, þā þā hē wel ǣr ārās tō bētenne þā lēoht þe wǣron nēah þǣre dura, and þā stōd hē on triewenre hlǣdre under þām lēohtfæte and ontende and ġebētte þæt lēoht, þā stōd þǣr ofdūne on þǣre flōre sanctus Petrus sē ēadega apostol on hwītum hræġlum, and þus cwæþ tō him, "Þū ġefēra, for hwon ārise þū swā hraðe?"

     One night, when he had gotten up very early to kindle the lights near the door, and he was standing on a wooden ladder under the lamp to light the fire, down there on the floor stood Saint Peter the apostle dressed in white, and he said to him, "Comrade, why did you get up so early?"

Conjugation

Derived terms

• ġebētan
• *bētung

Descendants

• Middle English: beten, beete, bete, bett, betten, beytt; betenn, beote
  • English: beet (dialectal, obsolete)
  • Scots: bete, beit, beet, beat

Swedish

Noun

betan

1. definite singular of beta
2. definite plural of beta

Anagrams

• benat