Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

besleep

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: besleep
IPA

11

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To sleep; have a sleep; sleep with.

Archaic

Example Sentences

"Others are going about our streets, like well-meaning but beslept watchmen, calling the hours of midnight, while the morning is paling their lanterns."
"He still beslept himself as we passed; he being a slumbersome person."
"He knows the last but whom the god beslept."

Etymology

From Middle English beslepen, from Old English beslǣpan (“to sleep, sleep through, sleep over”), equivalent to be- + sleep. Compare West Frisian besliepe (“to sleep with”), Dutch beslapen (“to sleep with”), German beschlafen (“to lay with”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Prefix: be
Root: beslepen, beslǣpan

Usage

Archaic

Inflected Forms

besleeps (present, singular) besleeping (participle, present) beslept (participle, past) beslept (past)

Questions

What does besleep mean?: To sleep; have a sleep; sleep with.
Where does besleep come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce besleep

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