bewit
/bɪˈwɪt/
bewit verb: to bequeath.
Verb
bewit (third-person singular simple present bewits or (archaic) bewot, present participle bewitting, simple past and past participle bewitted or (archaic) bewist)
- To bequeath.
- Al my other goodes afore not bewitted, my dettes paide, and my legacy fulfilled, I gyve and witto to my sones Roberte Bulmer and John Bulmer, whome I make my executors.1527, James Raine, John William Clay, Testamenta eboracensia, published 1902
- I bewit to everye preiste at Saincte Egidie chapell viij d., beside dutyes of churche, to saye Mimrere Pmlvie and De Profundit for my saule.1529, 1887, The Publications of the Surtees Society - Volume 83 - Page 302
- To endue or impart wit (to); instruct.
- Several passages in the chronicles show that Elfric was tender of the queen's good name: perhaps it was the queen rather than the king who, acting on the advice of Elfwinus, wished the princes bewitted, that is to say, accomplished; made men of the world, and as we should say, their manner...1871, Henry Scale English, Crowland and Burgh
- Yet I jeered not at the Voice, to show contempt of its failing to bewit me; but let the matter bide; [...]2006, William Hope Hodgson, The Night Land
Noun
IPA/ˈbjuːɪt/
bewit (plural bewits)
Forms of bewit
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | bewits |
| present participle | bewitting |
| past participle | bewitted |
| past | bewitted |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | bewot |
| past participle (archaic) | bewist |
| past (archaic) | bewist |
| Noun | |
| plural | bewits |
| alternative form | bewet |
Origin of bewit
From Middle English biwitten, biwiten, biwitien, from Old English bewitan, bewītan, bewitian (“to look over, watch over, take charge of, have charge or direction of, superintend, preside, govern, administer”), equivalent to be- + wit.
From Middle English bewette, diminutive of Old French beue, bue, buie, boie (“bond, chain”), from Latin boia (“neck collar, fetter”). Compare buoy.
Words that rhyme with bewit
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about bewit
- What does bewit mean?
- Bewit means to bequeath.
- What part of speech is bewit?
- Bewit can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce bewit?
- Bewit is pronounced /bɪˈwɪt/.
- What is the past tense of bewit?
- The past tense of bewit is bewitted.
Words near bewit in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bewit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bewit1.wav.
Cite this entry: “bewit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bewit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.