English

Prefix

be-

1. (rare or no longer productive) By, near, next to, around, close to.

   beleaguer, bestand, beset, besit

2. (rare or no longer productive) Around; about.

   begather, belay, belook, bestir, belive, besmell, bewrap

3. (rare or no longer productive) About, regarding, concerning, over.

   bewrite, betalk, betell, bemoan, bemourn, bewail, beknow, besing, bespeak

4. (rare or no longer productive) On, upon, at, to, in contact with something.

   beclothe, becall, besee, behold, befall, bedo, beshine, besmile, betone

5. (rare or no longer productive) Off, away, over, across

   becut, bedeal, betake, bego, behead, belimb, beland, benim, bereave, besleeve, betrunk

6. (rare or no longer productive) As an intensifier; i.e. thoroughly, excessively; completely; utterly.

   bebreak, begladden, belabour, behate, bedazzle

7. (rare or no longer productive) All around; about; abundantly; all over.

   belave, belick, bescatter, bekiss

8. (rare or no longer productive) Forming verbs derived from nouns or adjectives, usually with the sense of "to make, become, or cause to be".

   becalm, bedark, befree, befriend, bedim, beken, benight, benothing, bewet, besmooth, bestrange

9. (archaic or informal) Used to intensify adjectives meaning "adorned with something" often those with the suffix -ed.

   besequined, befeathered, beclawed, bewebbed, betasseled, beloved

Derived terms

References

• the NED and OED

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German be-.

Prefix

be-

1. Forms adjectives from nouns, with the sense "having noun".

   hår ("hair") → behåret ("hairy")

   hjerte ("heart") → behjertet ("hearty, brave")

2. Forms verbs from adjectives, with the sense "making adjective".

   svanger ("pregnant") → besvangre ("impregnate")

   rolig ("calm") → berolige ("calm, soothe")

3. Prepends to verbs, having no effect save making the verb transitive

   tvivle → betvivle ("doubt")

   kæmpe → bekæmpe ("fight")

Usage notes

Verbs formed with be- are transitive. Many such words are formed after Middle Low German words.

Derived terms

References

• “be-” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bə/

Prefix

be- Non-separable

1. Used to indicate that a verb is acting on a direct object (making the verb transitive). Always unstressed.

Derived terms

See also

German

Etymology

From Old High German bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bə]

Prefix

be-

1. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies working on something or change of state.
2. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies touching the object.
3. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies discussing or mentioning the object.

Usage notes

• Verbs with this prefix very often take a "direct object (i.e., an object in the accusative case).

Derived terms

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɛ]

Prefix

be-

1. (verbal prefix) in. It indicates actions with inward direction.

   megy ‎(“to go”) → bemegy ‎(“to go in to”)

Antonyms

• ki-

Derived terms

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian prefixes
• -be

References

• Hungarian prefixes in the English Wikipedia

Limburgish

Etymology

Germanic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bə/

Prefix

be-

1. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies working on something or change of state.
2. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies touching the object.
3. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies discussing or mentioning the object.

Usage notes

• The verb with this prefix takes very often a direct object (i.e., an object in the accusative case).

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-, from *bi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bə]

Prefix

be-

1. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies working on something or change of state.
2. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies touching the object.
3. Inseparable verbal prefix that signifies discussing or mentioning the object.

Usage notes

• Verbs with this prefix very often take objects in the accusative case.

Derived terms

Middle Dutch

Alternative forms

• bi-

Etymology

From Old Dutch bi-, be-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-.

Prefix

be-

1. A verb prefix with a variety of meanings.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Dutch: be-

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bə-/, /bɪ-/

Etymology

From Old Saxon bi-, from Proto-Germanic *bi-. Cognate to bî ‎(“by”).

Prefix

be-

1. Makes an intransitive verb transitive or denotes that the action is targeted at something or accompanying something.

   vallen (to fall) → bevallen (befall, afflict)

   singen (to sing) → besingen (to sing about something; to sing for the merit of something)

   bischop besingen – to ordain someone as bishop while chanting

2. Denotes on top, onto, often used to create figurative meanings.

   sitten (to sit) → besitten (to sit on top of; to own; to climb onto something; to acquire)

3. Denotes next to, very close.

   bûwen (to build) → bebûwen (to build too close to something else; to siege)

Alternative forms

• bo-
• bu-
• bi-

Navajo

Prefix

be-

1. his, her (indicates secondary or alienable possession, in opposition to bi-. See for example akʼah, beʼakʼah)

See also

Old English

Etymology

An unstressed form of bī, from Proto-Germanic *bi-.

Pronunciation

Prefix

be-

1. A productive prefix usually used to form verbs and adjectives, especially:

   verbs with the sense "around, throughout",

   transitive verbs from intransitive verbs, adjectives and nouns.

Old Saxon

Prefix

be-

1. Alternative form of bi-

Swedish

Prefix

be-

1. same as German be-, often found in German loan-words, primarily verbs and words based on verbs

Usage notes

In many cases the be- prefix doesn't change the meaning at all, it only makes word look more German. Swedish linguists in the late 19th century (Adolf Noreen, later also Erik Wellander) successfully promoted the idea that this prefix should be dropped from such words, for example befrämja turned into främja.

Derived terms

Volapük

Prefix

be-

1. Used to make an indirect object a direct object.
2. Strengthens the meaning of the radical.
3. Implies causing or conferring the meaning of the radical.

Derived terms

Zulu

Prefix

be- ‎(basic noun prefix)

1. Basic (augmentless) form of abe-