beseech
/bɪˈsiːt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.74 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Moost noble crysten Quene I byseche yow as ye haue ben euer my specyal good lady and I at al tymes your true poure knyghte vnto my power and as I neuer fayled yow in ryghte nor in wrong sythen the fyrst day kynge Arthur made me knyghte that ye wylle praye for my soule yf that I here be slayne; "Most noble Christian queen, I beseech you as ye have been ever my special good lady, and I at all times your true poor knight unto my power, and as I never failed you in right nor in wrong sithen the first day King Arthur made me knight, that ye will pray for my soul if that I here be slain;""
- "[W]e beſche thee, leaue vs not comfortles, but ſende to vs thine holy ghoſt to comfort vs, and exalte vs vnto thy ſame place, whither our ſauiour Chriſte is gone before: […]"
- "I flung myself before him on my knees, and with floods of tears besought him to release me from this engagement, assuring him that my cowardice was abject, and that in every point of intellect and character I was his hopeless and derisible inferior."
- "after what manner, I beseech you, must the mind proceed in this operation?"
- "She besought him, for his Soul's sake to speak the truth."
- "Panting a little in his haste, he told her how miserable he was; he besought her to have mercy on him; he promised, if she would forgive him, to do everything she wanted."
Etymology
From Middle English besechen, bisechen, prefixed form of Old English sēċan (“to seek or inquire about”); compare the doublet beseek, from the same dialect that gave seek. Cognate with Saterland Frisian besäike (“to visit”), Dutch bezoeken (“to visit, attend, see”), German besuchen (“to visit, attend, see”), Swedish besöka (“to visit, go to see”). By surface analysis, be- + seech.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: besechen, sēċan