Beteem

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To permit; allow; suffer. obsolete, transitive

    "So excellent a king, that was to this / Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother / That he might not beteem the winds of heaven / Visit her face too roughly."

  2. 2
    To bring forth; produce; shed. obsolete, transitive
  3. 3
    To pour all about. rare, transitive
  4. 4
    To grant, vouchsafe (something to someone); accord; give. obsolete, transitive

    "So would I (said th'enchaunter) glad and faine / Beteeme to you this sword, you to defend [...]."

  5. 5
    To bestow; afford; allow; deign. dialectal, transitive

Example

More examples

"So excellent a king, that was to this / Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother / That he might not beteem the winds of heaven / Visit her face too roughly."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From be- + teem (“to befit”). Cognate with Dutch betamen (“to befit, behove, beseem”).

Etymology 2

From be- + teem (“to produce”).

Etymology 3

From be- + teem (“to empty, pour”).

Related phrases

bring forth

More for "beteem"

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