Bespeak

//bɪˈspiːk// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A request for a specific performance; a benefit performance, by a patron. archaic

    ""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."

Verb
  1. 1
    To speak about; tell of; relate; discuss. archaic, formal, transitive

    "[They] bespoke dangers […] in order to scare the allies."

  2. 2
    express the need or desire for wordnet
  3. 3
    To speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance. transitive

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

  4. 4
    be a signal for or a symptom of wordnet
  5. 5
    To stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour. transitive

    "to bespeak a calm hearing"

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    To forbode; foretell. archaic, transitive
  2. 7
    To speak to; address. archaic, poetic, transitive

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

  3. 8
    To betoken; show; indicate; depict; foretell; suggest; allude to. transitive

    "This act bespeaks his kindness."

  4. 9
    To speak up or out; exclaim; speak. intransitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
requestaccostaddressadumbrateannounceapostrophize

Example

More examples

"The Gods assented to her prayer, and transformed her into a bird: in which shape, as in her former one, she abides in the mountains, and delights in singing. Her notes bespeak her misfortune, for she is calling her wandering cows."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

ask forin advancespeak outspeak up

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.