Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Beteem
Be-teem′
,Verb.
T.
[Pref. ]
be-
+ an old verb teem
to be fitting; cf. D. betamen
to beseem, G. ziemen
, Goth. gatiman
, and E. tame
. See Tame
, Adj.
1.
To give ; to bestow; to grant; to accord; to consent.
[Obs.]
Spenser. Milton.
2.
To allow; to permit; to suffer.
[Obs.]
So loving to my mother,
That he might not
Visit her face too roughly.
That he might not
beteem
the winds of heavenVisit her face too roughly.
Shakespeare
Webster 1828 Edition
Beteem
BETEE'M
,Verb.
T.
Definition 2024
beteem
beteem
English
Verb
beteem (third-person singular simple present beteems, present participle beteeming, simple past and past participle beteemed)
- (transitive, obsolete) To permit; allow; suffer.
- 1601, "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2 lines 139-143:
- 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.
- 1601, "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2 lines 139-143:
- (transitive, obsolete) To grant, vouchsafe (something to someone); accord; give.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:
- So would I (said th'enchaunter) glad and faine / Beteeme to you this sword, you to defend [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:
- (transitive, dialectal) To bestow; afford; allow; deign.
Etymology 2
From be- + teem (“to produce”).
Verb
beteem (third-person singular simple present beteems, present participle beteeming, simple past and past participle beteemed)
- (transitive, obsolete) To bring forth; produce; shed.
Etymology 3
From be- + teem (“to empty, pour”).
Verb
beteem (third-person singular simple present beteems, present participle beteeming, simple past and past participle beteemed)
- (transitive, rare) To pour all about.