What does "betides" mean?

third-person singular simple present indicative of betide

What is a synonym for "betides"?

Common synonyms include: bechance, befall, befall, be found, be met with, be realized.

Betides

//bɪˈtaɪdz// adv, verb

adv, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1
third-person singular simple present indicative of betide form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person

Adverb

1
At any early period. not-comparable

Synonyms

All synonyms

bechance befall befall be found be met with be realized

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English be- + tide (“time”) + -s. Compare Saterland Frisian bietiede (“from time to time; now and then”), German beizeiten (“early; betimes”), Swedish bitti (“early (in the day)”).

Etymology 2

See betide.

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