I was reading the New York Times’ obituary of Adolf Hitler when I ran across this: “With his mother’s passing he betook himself to Vienna, where he applied for admission to the Academy of Arts.” Betook? What an interesting verb. Later, when I heard someone say “beholden,” I wondered about verbs that begin with be-. Some, such as “betake,” sound quaint; others, such as “bedazzle,” seem still to be in wide use. These verbs survive from Middle English, it appears.
I looked up be- as a prefix in the dictionary and read that adding be- to a verb can mean around (beset), thoroughly (bedeck), away (betake), about (bemoan), make (besot) and furnish with (befriend). Be- can take adjective forms, too, as “bewhiskered.”
What lovely words these be- words be!
This article was originally posted by the Raleigh News & Observer, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Co.; is posted here to provide continuity; and is copyright © 2011 The News & Observer Publishing Company, which reserves the right to remove this post.