Be. World English Historical Dictionary

Be. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1888, rev. 2024. Be v. [An irregular and defective verb, the full conjugation of which in modern Eng. is effected by a union of the surviving inflexions of three originally distinct and independent verbs, viz. (1) the original Aryan substantive verb with stem es-, Skr. as-, ’s-, Gr. ’εσ-, L. es-, ’s-, OTeut. *es-, ’s-; (2) the verb with stem wes-, Skr. vas- to remain, OTeut. wes-, Gothic wis-an to remain, stay, continue to be, OS., OE., OHG. wesan, OFris. wes-a, ON. ver-a; (3) the stem beu- Skr. bhū-, bhaw-, Gr. φυ-, L. fu-, OTeut. *beu-, beo-, OE. béo-n to become, come to be. Of the stem es-, OE. (like the oldest extant Teutonic) possessed only the present tenses, Indicative and Subjunctive (orig. Optative), all the other parts being supplied from the stem wes-, pa. t. was, which, though still a distinct and complete vb. in Gothic, was in OE. only supplemental to es-, the two constituting the substantive verb am-was. Béon, be, was still in OE. a distinct verb (having all the present, but no past tenses) meaning to ‘become, come to be,’ and thus often serving as a future tense to am-was. By the beginning of the 13th c., the Infinitive and Participle, Imperative, and pres. Subjunctive of am-was, became successively obsolete, the corresponding parts of be taking their place, so that the whole verb am-was-be is now commonly called from its infinitive, ‘the verb to be,’ although be is no part of the substantive verb originally, but only a later accretion replacing original parts now lost.

1   In OE. the present Indic. of am had two forms of the plural, (1) sind, sindon (= Goth. and Ger. sind, L. sunt, Skr. sánti) and earon, aron (= ON. eru), the latter confined to the Anglian dialects, where it was used side by side with sind, -un. Of these, sind, -on ceased to be used before 1250, its place being taken in southern Eng. by the corresponding inflexions of be. We, ye, they beth, ben, be, were the standard forms in southern and midl. Eng. for centuries; and even in the sing., be, beest, beth began to encroach on am, art, is, and are now the regular forms in southern dialect speech. Meanwhile aron, aren, arn, are, survived in the north, and gradually spread south, till early in 16th c. are made its appearance in standard Eng., where it was regularly used by Tindale. Be continued in concurrent use till the end of the century (see Shakespeare, and Bible of 1611), and still occurs as a poetic archaism, as well as in certain traditional expressions and familiar quotations of 16th c. origin, as ‘the powers that be.’ But the regular modern Eng. plural is are, which now tends to oust be even from the subjunctive. Southern and eastern dialect speech retains be both in singular and plural, as ‘I be a going,’ ‘we be ready.’]

2   In treating this important word, the history of the inflexions is first exhibited, and then that of the signification.

3   A.  Inflexions.

4   I.  Inflexions from stem es-: partly replaced in ME. by be.

5   1.  Present Indicative.

6   * from es-, ’s-.

7   1 sing. am. [= ON. em, Gothic im, Skr. ásmi, Gr. *ἔσμι, εἰμί, L. sum: the only Eng. vb. form which retains the old personal suffix -m (for -mi).] Forms: 1–3 eom, 1 Merc. eam, North. am, amm, 2–4 em, eam, æm, 2– am (Orm. amm, 3–4 ham, 4 ame, emme), contr. 6– ’m (I’m) in verse and familiar prose. In 4–5 icham (south and west) was treated as one word, whence later dial. cham in 16th c. and recent s. w. dial. Negative 1–5 neom, næm, nam. (Northern es, is: see 3rd sing.)

8 c. 885.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xiii. 40. Ic eom ofwundrod.

9 a. 950.  Durh. Ritual, 10 a. Ic am drihten god ðin.

10 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxviii. 20. Ic iuh mið am.

11 c. 975.  Rushw. G., ibid., Ic mid eow eam.

12 c. 1000.  Ags. G., Matt. xi. 28. Ic eom bilwite.

13 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Ich eom bylewhit.

14 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 25. Ic em hal.

15 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 256. Ic am þi mon.

16 c. 1205.  Lay., 461. Ich am duc. Ibid., 25943. Ich æm mon [1250 Ich ham a mon]. Ibid., 14136. Næm ich næuere bute care.

17 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 5756. Lord here I ame.

18 c. 1300.  Beket, 475. So moche wrecche nam y noȝt.

19 c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron., 337. Ich emme þat þe bere.

20 1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 105. ‘Icham sori’ quod Envye, ‘I ne am [v.r. nam] but seldene oþer.

21 1382.  Wyclif, Ex. iii. 14. Y am that am.

22 c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., Prol. 314. Sir it am I.

23 1647.  Cowley, Mistr., lxxvi. No: I’m undone.

24 1863.  Geo. Eliot, Romola, i. I’m a stranger in Florence.

25   dial.  1547.  Boorde, Introd. Knowl., 122. Iche cham a Cornyshe man.

26 1633.  B. Jonson, Tale Tub, I. i. ’Cham no man’s wife.

27 1746.  Exmoor Scolding (1879), 26. Cham a-troubled.

28   2 sing. art. [= ON. est, after 12th c. ert, Goth. is, Skr. ási, Gr. ἔσσι (ἐσσί, εἶ, εἶ), L. es; in Eng., as in later ON., s of the stem has become r: the final t is a pleonastic addition of the 2nd pers. pron., not found in Goth., nor outside Teut.] Forms: 1–2 eart, 1 Merc. earð, North. arð, 2–3 ært, (eært, æart, hart, ard), Orm. arrt, 2–5 ert, 2– art, capable of contraction, 6– thou’rt. Negative 1–5 neart, nert, nart. Art-thou appears 1–2 eartu, earðu, arðu, 2–5 ertu, artu, artow; in poet. and dial. use, the pron. is now sometimes omitted, as in ‘What art doing?’ (Northern es, is: see 3rd sing.)

29 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. vi. 9. Fæder user ðu arð vel bist in heofnum.

30 c. 975.  Rushw. G., ibid., Fæder ure þu þe in heofunum earð.

31 a. 1000.  Ags. G., ibid., Fæder ure þu þe eart an heofenum.

32 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Fader ure þu þe ert on heofne.

33 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 223. Þu æart dust. Ibid., 200. Hwi ertu me so freomode.

34 a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 561. Thu art lutel.

35 c. 1280.  Relig. Songs, v. 178. Nu thu ard al skere.

36 a. 1300.  Cursor M. (Cott.) 14105. In mikel bisenes ert þou, Bise ert þou [Gött. bisi es þu] bot mani dede. Ibid. (c. 1340) (Fairf.), 12136. Vnneþes artow of vij ȝere.

37 1340.  Hampole, Pr. Consc., 424. Askes er-tow now.

38 1382.  Wyclif, 2 Sam. xii. 7. Thou ert thilk man [1388 Thou art thilke man] Ibid., Matt. vi. 9. Oure fadir that art in heuenes.

39 1602.  Dekker, Satirom., 234. Art not famous enough yet, but thou must eate men alive?

40   3 sing. is. [= ON. es, after 1200 er, Goth., OHG., OS., OFris. ist, Skr. ásti, Gr. ἔστι, L. est: in Eng. as in ON. and Du. the personal suffix -t is lost.] Forms: 1– is; 1–6 ys; Orm. iss; North. 3–5 es (ess, esse, iss, isse). Negative 1–5 nis, nys. Is still rhymed with miss, bliss, this, etc., in 16th c.; it retains the s sound in is ’t? and when contracted, after breath mutes as that ’s, but = z elsewhere, as he ’s, all ’s, this is.

41 c. 885.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 13. Hit is eall weste.

42 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxviii. 6. Nys he her.

43 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Nis he her.

44 c. 1280.  Sarmun, 38, in E. E. P. (1862), 5. Manis lif nis bot a schade, nov he is and nov he nis.

45 a. 1300.  Cursor M. (Gött.). 5779. Til ȝou me sendis he þat ess [Cott. es, Fairf. ys]. Ibid. (c. 1340) (Trin.). 13158. Seint Ion þat in prisoun isse.

46 1340.  Hampole, Pr. Consc., 32. Swa he es, and ay … sal be.

47 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1267. Ther is [v.r. nys] no newe gyse, that it nas old.

48 c. 1400.  Maundev., iii. 19. There nys no Purgatorie.

49 c. 1450.  Myrc, 10. Alle ys for defawte of lore.

50 1483.  Caxton, G. de la Tour, B vij. Is it right or wrong.

51 c. 1530.  Redforde, Play Wyt & Sc. (1848), 3. Ah! syr, what tyme yst?

52 1635.  Quarles, Embl., II. xiv. When not himself, he’s mad; when most himself, he’s worse.

53 1733.  Pope, Ess. Man, I. 286. One truth is clear, Whatever Is is RIGHT.

54 1848.  Kingsley, Saints’ Trag., II. vii. 100. What’s thy name?

55   ¶ In the northern dialect, ME. and mod., es, is, ys, is used for all persons of the sing., and also for the plur., when not immediately joined to the nom. pron., e.g., when the subject is a noun or relative; the latter usage is exceedingly frequent in the Shakespeare folio of 1623 (though much altered by editors ignorant of its history).

56 a. 1300.  Cursor M. (Cott.), 5262. Þat þou liuand es! [Fairf. On liue þou ys]. Ibid., 9727. ‘Fader,’ he said, ‘þi sun i es.’ Ibid., 14105. In mekil besines es þu.

57 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Reeves T., 125 (Northern Clerk), I is as ille a millere as are ye [Lansd., I es as il a Melnere as es ye]. Ibid., 169. Il hayl! by god, Aleyn, thou is a fonne.

58 1485.  Malory, Arthur (1817), II. 391. Here is I.

59 1570–87.  Holinshed, Scot. Chron., II. 50. Giltless persons is condemned.

60 1574.  trans. Littleton’s Tenures, 107 b. Hys heires is in by dyscent.

61 1578.  in Scot. Poems 16th C. (1801), II. 133. Our fais that bisie is.

62 1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., III. ii. 20. Ill derds is doubled with an evil word. Ibid. (1593), 2 Hen. VI., III. ii. 11. Is all things well? Ibid., 303. There’s two of you.

63 [Mod. Sc. and north. Eng. All my hopes is lost. Is your friends coming?]

64   1–3 plural.

65   † α.  Obs. form from weak stem ’s: [OE. sind, sindon. = OS. sind, sindon, OFris. send, OHG. 3 pl. sint, sindun, Goth. 3 pl. sind, Skr. 3 pl. sánti, L. sunt. The -on, -un, occurring in WGer. is a second pl. suffix subsequently added.] Forms: 1 sind, sint, synd, synt, siondon, si(e)ndun, sindon, syndon, 2 synde(n, synd, synt, 2–3 sende(n, 3 sunde(n, sonde(n, seondeþ, (seoð), Orm. sinndenn. Replaced in south by be; in north and at length everywhere by are.

66   β.  are. [= ON. 1 erum, 2 eruð, 3 eru, (:—*erund), Sw. 1 äro, 2 ären, 3 äro, Da. ere; a re-forming of the pl. on the strong stem-form es-, analogous to Gr. *ἐς-μές, ἐς-τέ, ἔ-ᾱσι (from *ἔς-αντι), L. es-tis, compared with the original type in Skr. s-más, s-thá, s-ánti, L. s-umus, s-unt, and Gothic sijum, sijuð, sind, OE. sind (in α).] Forms: 1 Merc. earun, Northumb. aron, aro-, 2–5 north. and n. midl. aren, 2–6 arn, 3 Orm. arrn, (4–5 arunne), 4–6 arne, 4– are (4–6 ar); 3–4 north. ern, 4–5 ere, er. (Without pronoun 4– es, is: see 3rd sing. above.)

67   α.  c. 885.  K. Ælfred, Oros., I. i. § 12. Be norðan him sindon [later MS. syndon] Ealdseaxan.

68 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. x. 2. Ðis synt [Lindisf. sint, Rushw. sindun] þæra Apostola naman.

69 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Ðis sende þare apostle namen.

70 c. 1200.  Moral Ode, 290, in Trin. Coll. Hom., 229. Hwu fele senden in helle.

71 c. 1200.  Ormin, 6293. Þa þat sinndenn gode.

72 c. 1205.  Lay., 24763. We sunden twælf cnihtes. Ibid., 27319. Godd heo seondeð laðe.

73   β.  a. 950.  Durh. Ritual, 28. Allo ʓie bearno lehtes aro ʓie.

74 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. v. 14. Ȝie aron (vel sint) leht middanʓeardes.

75 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 73. Swiche ben þe deueles bernes, þe aren cleped ortrowe.

76 c. 1200.  Ormin, 6849. Þa þatt arrn i þine walde.

77 c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 16. So faȝen so fueles arn.

78 a. 1300.  Cursor M. (Cott.) 4847. Elleuen breþer es we [v.r. we er, we ar, are we] liuand. Ibid., 4878. Yee Ne ern lickli lel men to be.

79 a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter xcii. 6. Þine werkes ere þai.

80 c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks. (1871), III. 169. Bodily werkis arunne more knowen.

81 c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 2379. Þay aren in grete drede.

82 c. 1384.  Chaucer, H. Fame, 1008. Al these arne set in heuene [Caxt. ar, Thynne are].

83 1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. xix. (1495), 778. Camelles ben tothlesse aboue as oxen are.

84 1465.  Marg. Paston, in Lett., 500, II. 179. They eryn as he left hem … The place where they ern kept.

85 1528.  More, Heresyes, II. Wks. 202/1. Sarasyns, whiche … arne of another flocke.

86 1534.  Tindale, John x. 30. I and my father are one [Wyclif ben oon].

87 1611.  Bible, Gen. xlii. 31. We are true men: we are no spies. We be twelue brethren [Coverd. we are; Genev., we be].

88 1787.  Burns, Brigs of Ayr. I’ll be a Brig, when ye’re a shapeless cairn.

89   ¶ Negative forms colloquial and vulgar, found in dramatists and novels since 17th c. are ar’n’t, a’n’t = are not, am not, e’n’t, ain’t = am not, is not, are not.

90 1710.  Palmer, Proverbs, 124. The politest atheist can’t be sure that their e’nt a God.

91 1794.  Southey, Wat Tyler, III. ii. You ar’n’t to die So easily.

92 1799.  B. Thompson, Kotzebue’s Stranger, in Mrs. Inchbald, Theat., I. 17. Sharp lad, a’n’t I?

93 1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xiii. I an’t quite certain. Ibid., xxviii. There ain’t anything the matter.

94   ** from verb be.

95   1 sing. † be. Obs. exc. dial. [= OS. bium, OFris. bem, OHG. pim, cogn. w. Skr. bhavāmi, Gr. *φῦμι, φύω, L. fui.] Forms: 1 bíom, béom, 1–3 béo, beon, 3– be, (4–5 by, 4–7 bee). Like am, this had the personal suffix -m, which was however dropped already in later OE.

96   a.  as distinct vb. or future: I become, come to be, shall be.

97 c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, cxlvi. 2. Ic singu gode minum swe longe swe ic biom [Lat. ero].

98 c. 1000.  Ags. Ps. cxix. 117. Gefultuma me fæste, ðonne béo ic hál.

99 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 17. Bispreng me mid edmodnesse louerd þanne be ich clene.

100 c. 1205.  Lay., 28218. Ne beo [1250 worþe] ich nauere bliðe.

101   b.  as present: rare and doubtful in ME., but now the regular form in southern and some midland dialects. The negative I ben’t, beant, baint is even more widely used dialectally.

102 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxviii. 20. Ic beo mid eow ealle daʓas [Lindisf. am, Rushw. eam].

103 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Ich beo.

104 c. 1205.  Lay., 3945. Þa while ich beon on liue. Ibid., 11501. Þe while þe ich beo [1250 ham] on liue.

105 1864.  Capern, Devon Provinc., s.v. Be, I be going.

106 1864.  Tennyson, North. Farmer, 3. 1 beänt a fool.

107   2 sing † beest, be’st. Obs. exc. dial. [= OS. bist, OHG. pis, pist.] Forms: (1 bis), 1–3 bist, 3 beost, 3–4 best, 4 beste, 4– beest (5 north. bes), 9. beest, bist.

108   a.  as distinct vb., or future.

109 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Luke xxiii. 43. To-dæʓ þu bist mid me on paradiso.

110 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., To-daiʓ þu byst.

111 c. 1205.  Lay., 9843. Wið þine sune þu beost iuæid.

112 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.). 2038. Þou beste of his blessyng quyt.

113 1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. V. 598. Bileue so · or þow beest nouȝte ysaued.

114   b.  as present = art. Rare in ME., but now widely spread in south. and midl. dialects.

115 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. vi. 9. Fæder user ðu arð vel bist in heofnum.

116 c. 1205.  Lay., 3053. Al swa muchel þu bist [v.r. hart] worþ.

117 1848.  Kingsley, Saints’ Trag., II. vii. 100. Wood cutter:—Be’est a keeper, man?

118 1862.  Barnes, Rhymes Dorset Dial., I. 61. Whatever bist about.

119   3 sing. beeth, bes. Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 1–3 bið, 1 byð, 2 bæð, 2–3 beoð, 3 (bideð), buþ, 3–5 beð, beþ, bueð, 4 byeþ, 4–6 beth(e. North. 4 betz, beis, 4–5 bes(e, 6 Sc. beis. South. dial. 9 be.

120   a.  as distinct vb., or future.

121 c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, ciii. 3. Se milde bið allum un-rehtwisnissum ðinum.

122 c. 1205.  Lay., 5763. Anan swa hit beoð auen.

123 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Fairf.), 3762. My hert bese [Trin. beþ] neuer broȝt in rest, bi-twix and þis Iacob be slayne.

124 a. 1400.  Chron. Eng., 270, in Ritson, Metr. Rom., II. 281. Non ne byth ther nevermore.

125 1535.  Stewart, Cron. Scot., I. 565. Traist weill … the feild this da beis ouris.

126   b.  as present.

127 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 25. He bið wið-uten feire.

128 c. 1200.  Moral Ode, 39, in E. E. P. (1862), 24. So muchel bet [v.r. bið] his mihte.

129 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1175. It beis not sua [v.r. bes, beþ].

130 1340.  Ayenb., 54. Þe holyist man byeþ … becaȝt.

131 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 1163. Nought beth forgeten the infortune of Mart [Six-texts was].

132 c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., 13. It bese the wars for thi sake.

133 1516–21.  Buckhm., in Ellis, Orig. Lett., III. I. 217. It bethe matter that I am lothe … to troble you withall.

134 c. 1570.  Bp. St. Andrews, in Scot. Poems 16th C., II. 305. When Plutois palice beis provydit for them.

135 Mod. East-Anglian  Here he be.

136   1–3 plural. be. [In the other OTeut. langs. only repr. by OHG. pirumes, pirut (MHG. birnt, bint).] Forms: α. (type beoth, beth): 1–3 béoð (1 Northumb. bíað, bið-on, bioð-on, Merc. bíoþ, bið-on, beoþ-an), 1–4 bēo, 2 bæð, byð, 2–3 bieð, buoð, buð(ü), 3–4 bueð, buþ, beoth, 2–5 beð, beþ, 4 byeþ, beeþ, 4–5 beth, 5– beeth, (6–7 dial. beth).

137   β.  Midl. (type beon, ben, been, be): 2–4 beon, 2 bienn, bin, 2–3 bien, 2–6 ben, 3–4 buen, 4–5 by, 4–6 bene, 4–7 been(e, 5 (byn(ne), 5–7 bin (still dial.), 6–7 bee, 4– be. Negative, dial. ben’t, beant.

138   γ.  North. 3 bes, 5 bese.

139   a.  as future.

140 c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, xcii. 14. Bioð ʓemoniʓfaldade in ældu.

141 c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 239. A domes deiȝ alle godes fend … abroden bienn.

142 c. 1205.  Lay., 3057. Sone heo bið [hi beoð] ilaȝeð.

143   b.  as present.

144 c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 219. Her beoð niȝen anglen hapes.

145 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 89. La hu ne beað þa … galileisce?

146 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 39. Þo bin þe gode word of holi boc.

147 c. 1205.  Lay., 4455. Whær beo ȝe mine cnihtes?

148 c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 107. Watres ben her ðer-under.

149 1297.  R. Glouc., 368. Hey men, þat in Engelond beþ, Beþ ycome of þe Normans.

150 a. 1300.  K. Alis., 4965. Men hy ben. Ibid., 6494. Faire wymmen heo buth.

151 c. 1300.  Beket, 174. To fewe ther beoth.

152 1307.  Elegy Edw. I., ix. Our baners that bueth broht to grounde.

153 1340.  Ayenb., 1. Þise byeþ þe capiteles.

154 c. 1370.  Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 33. Þei been enemys.

155 c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1029. We … Be now disclaundered.

156 1387.  Trevisa, Higden, Rolls Ser. I. 321. Þere by gracious tymes.

157 c. 1420.  Sir Amadace, xlviii. For-sothe thai bynne away.

158 c. 1460.  Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714), 7. Thes two Princes beth of egall Astate. Ibid., 10. Which Lawys ben right good.

159 1485.  Caxton, Paris & V., 16. Knyghtes and barons that been here.

160 a. 1500.  Rob. Hood (Ritson), I. i. 213. My goodes beth sette and solde.

161 1534.  Tindale, Rom. xiii. 1. The powers that be, are ordeyned of God.

162 1535.  Coverdale, Zech. i. 19. What be these? Ibid. (1548), Erasm. Par. Rom. II. 40. And what thinges bene they?

163 1557.  K. Arthur (Copland), Cont., The chapytres that ben conteyned in this present volume.

164 1582.  Bentley, Mon. Matrones, ii. 65. They be never offended at anie thing.

165 1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. 2. Surely they are, as all other countries and nations be.

166 1594.  Shaks., Rich. III., IV. iv. 93. Where is thy Husband now? Where be thy Brothers?

167 1611.  Bible, 2 Kings vi. 16. They that be with vs are moe than they that be with them.

168 1669.  Milton, Accedence, Wks. (1847), 461/1. Ego, tu, sui be of the first Declension.

169 a. 1687.  Petty, Pol. Arith., v. (1691), 87. There be Three distinct Legislative Powers.

170   ¶ Examples of dial. and arch. retention of been, bin, beth for be, and of be for are.

171 1576.  Gascoigne, Philomene, 63 (Arb.), 88. Such as true and stedfast louers bene.

172 a. 1581.  Campion, Hist. Irel., II. vii. (1633), 97. The Irish beene false by kinde.

173 1584.  Peele, Arraignm. Paris, Prol. 6. Th’ unpartial daughters of Necessity Bin aids in her suit.

174 1586.  Ferne, Blaz. Gentrie, 71. You zay zomewhat well vor vs that we beene the most necessary men.

175 1608.  Shaks., Per., II. Prol. 28. To seas, Where when men been, there’s seldom ease.

176 1640.  Brome, Antip., II. ix. 271. We be none of your father, so we beant.

177 1651.  Jer. Taylor, Holy Dying, iv. § 9 (1727), 178. Widows beth slothful, and children beth unkind.

178 1820.  Byron, Mar. Fal., V. i. 169. And who be they?

179 1842.  Barnes, Rhymes Dorset Dial., I. 136. The carpets they do use, Ben’t fit to tread … An’ chairs an’ couches be so neat, You mussen teäke em vor a seat.

180 1861.  Thackeray, Georges, ii. 114. Where be your painted houris?

181 1865.  Swinburne, Queen Busahe, 367. If thou be keen To note things amiss that been.

182 1879.  T. H. S. Escott, England, I. 242. No alarming sound for the powers that be.

183   Been, bin was erroneously used by 16th c. Sc. writers, in supposed imitation of Chaucer, and by Byron (in supposed imitation of Shaks.) as singular.

184 1513.  Douglas, Æneis, I. Pref. 213. I will nocht say all Virgill bene als trew.

185 1552.  Lyndesay, Monarche, 5768. Gret dule, that day, to Iugis bene.

186 1556.  Lauder, Tractate (1864), 65. Nothing … Different … Than bene the purest Creature That euir wes formit of nature.

187 1823.  Byron, Juan, XIII. xxvi. Also there bin another pious reason For making squares and streets anonymous.

188   2.  Present Subjunctive.

189   * from stem es- (in weak form ’s-).

190   sing. † OE. sie, sí. [= OFris. sê, OS., OHG. sî, sîs, sî, ON. sê, sêr, sê, Goth. sijau, sijais, sijai, Skr. syām, syās, syāt, OL. siēm, siēs, siēt, cl. L. sīm, sīs, sīt. In OE. all 3 persons were levelled under one form, though in ancient times the 1 pers. was distinct siém, sión.] Forms: 1 (1 pers. siem, sion) síe, sié, sió, sé, siʓ, 1–2 sí, sý, sye, syo, seo.

191 c. 732.  Bæda, Death-song. Naeniʓ uuiurthit thonc-snotturra than him tharf sie.

192 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxiv. 3. Hwilc tacn si þines tocymys. Ibid., v. 13. Buton þæt hit sy útaworpen, and sy [v.r. sí, siʓ] fram mannum fortreden.

193 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Buton þæt hyt sye ut-aworpen, and syo fram mannen fortredon.

194 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 91. Si lof Dauiðes bern, blesced bie he.

195 c. 1205.  Lay., 14893. Alre king si [1250 beo] he ærmest. Ibid., 24759. Hail seo [1250 beo] þu Arður king!

196   plural. † OE. sien, sie, sín. [= OS. sîn, OFris. sê, OHG. sîmês, sît, sîn, ON. sêm, sêt, sê, Goth. sijaima, sijaip, sijaina, Skr. syāma, syāta, syús, OL. siēmus, siētis, siēnt, cl. L. sīmus, sītis, sīnt.] Forms: 1 sien, sín, sýn, síe, sie, sé, sæ, 2 syen, 3 seon (seoð).

197 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. vi. 1. Þæt ʓie se ʓeseno.

198 c. 975.  Rushw. G., ibid., Þæt ʓe sie ʓeseanæ.

199 c. 1000.  Ags. G., ibid., Þæt ʓe sin ʓeherede.

200 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Þæt ȝe syen ȝeherede.

201 c. 1205.  Lay., 13837. Wh[ah]æt cnihtes ȝe seon [1250 beo].

202   ¶ A present subj. from stem wes-, singular wese, plural wesen, also existed in OE., in poetic use.

203 c. 1000.  Ags. Ps. cv. 37. Wese swa, wese swa, þurh eall wide ferhð. Ibid., lxvii. 5. Þa þe wydewum syn wraðe … oþþe steop-cildum wesen strange fæderas.

204   ** from verb be.

205   sing. be. Forms; 1 bío, 1–3 béo, 2 bo, bie, 4–5 bi, by, 4– be, (4–7 bee).

206 a. 1000.  Metr. Boeth., x. 65. Hwæt iow æfre þy bet bio oððe þince.

207 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 91. Blesced bie he þe cumeð a godes name. Ibid., 107. Be swo it beo.

208 a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 566. Thu gredest suich thu bo wod.

209 1340.  Ayenb., 219. By hit to þe bodie, by hit to þe zaule.

210 1372.  Langl., P. Pl., B. VI. 207. Be þow went, They wil worche ful ille.

211 1382.  Wyclif, Gen. xxvii. 21. Whethir thow be [v.r. art] my sone Esau, or noon [1611 Whether thou bee my very sonne Esau, or not].

212 c. 1385.  Chaucer, L. G. W., 1848. ‘Be as be may,’ quod she.

213 1582.  Bentley, Mon. Matrones, ii. 7. If thou be my father.

214 1611.  Bible, Jer. xvii. 5. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.

215 1716.  Addison, Drummer, V. i. Look you if he ben’t with my lady.

216 1830.  Tennyson, Dream Fair Wom., 251. I am that Rosamond, whom men call fair, If what I was I be.

217 Mod.  Be he who he may, he has no right here.

218   b.  In the 2nd sing., after if, though, etc., beest, properly an indicative form, was common in 16th and 17th c., and is regularly used by Shakespeare.

219 c. 1600.  Rob. Hood (Ritson), II. ii. 38. Although thou beest in haste.

220 1606.  Shaks., Ant. & Cl., I. v. 59. Bee’st thou sad, or merrie, The violence of either thee becomes.

221 1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 84. If thou beest he; But O how fall’n!

222 1678.  Cudworth, Intell. Syst., 462. Whether thou beest a certain Divine Force and Soul.

223   c.  In the 3rd sing., beis was formerly used in Sc.

224 1513.  Douglas, Æneis, XII. iv. 70. Bot gif so beis, Mars … The victory … grantis ws.

225 1609.  Skene, Reg. Maj., 79. Gif it beis within borgh.

226 1641.  Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855), 62. Gif neid beis, to assist thame.

227   plural. be. Forms: 1–3 beon, 2–5 ben, 2– be.

228 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 73. Þeh alle men beon of hore sunnen iclensed.

229 c. 1205.  Lay., 938. Þæt we beon iquemed.

230 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.). 14784. But of o þing in were be we.

231 1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 418. Tyl matynes and masse be do.

232 c. 1450.  Merlin, x. 150. Loke now that ye be larger.

233 1611.  Bible, 1 Sam. xxiii. 21. Blessed be yee of the Lord.

234 1632.  Sanderson, 12 Serm., 96. If we be of the Spiritualtie.

235 1728.  T. Sheridan, Persius (1739), Ded. 5. Although you be now removed to another Soil.

236 Mod.  If we be in time, we shall find him at home.

237   ¶ For these the indicative forms have been occasionally substituted since the 15th c., and are now chiefly used after if, though, unless, etc.

238 1483.  Caxton, G. de la Tour, B vij. Thus oughte euery good woman … to do his commandment, is it right or wrong.

239 1611.  Bible, 1 John iv. 1. Try the spirits whether they are of God.

240 1667.  Marvell, Corr., II. xxxvi. 81. I can not be wanted though I am missing.

241 Mod.  I never go unless I am specially invited. Tell me if they are in sight.

242   II.  Inflexions of stem wes-; now replaced by be.

243   3.  Present Imperative.

244   a.  from wes-: † OE. wes, pl. wesað. Obs. [= OS. wes, wesað, OFris. wese, wesath, OHG. wis, wesat, ON. ver, verið.] Forms: sing. 1 wes, (north. wæs), 2 wæsse, 3 wæs. pl. 1 wesað, wese(ʓe), (north. wosas), 2 wese(ȝe). (After 1200 only in phrase wæs hail! in Layamon. See WASSAIL.)

245 a. 1000.  Andreas (Gr.), 540. Wes þu ʓebletsod!

246 c. 1000.  Ags. Ps. cxiii. 23. Wesað ʓe ʓebletsade.

247 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Luke i. 28. Hal wes ðú!

248 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Hal wasse þu. Ibid., Matt. xxviii. 9. Hale wese ȝe [Lindisf. Wosað ȝie hal; Rushw. Beoþ hale].

249 c. 1205.  Lay., 14970. Lauerd king, wæs hail! [1250 Louerd king, wassail!].

250   b.  from be: sing. and pl. be. Forms: sing. 1–3 béo, (2 ibeo, 3 bo, bi), 4– be, (6–7 bee). pl. 1–3 béoð, béo(ʓe), 3–4 buð, 4–5 beoth, beþ, beth(e, north. 4–5 bes, beys (occas. used as sing.), 6 Sc. beis. Negative, dial. beant, baint, mod. Sc. binna, bynna.

251 a. 1000.  Satan, 733 (Gr.). Lá! béo nu on yfele. Ibid., Andreas, 1611 (Gr.). Ne béoþ ʓe tó forhte.

252 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 49. Buð admode alse duue. Ibid., 256. I-hered ibeo þu swete þing.

253 c. 1205.  Lay., 1499. Hal beo þu Brutus! Ibid., 19173. Beoð stille! beoð stille! cnihtes inne halle.

254 a. 1230.  Ancr. R., 174. Ne beo ȝe nout Semei, auh beoð Hester.

255 a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 262. Bo nu stille, and lat me speke.

256 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 10454. Be still, or ga me heiþen fra. Ibid., 11161. Bi þou ful traist.

257 a. 1300.  Havelok, 2246. Bes of him ful glad and blithe.

258 c. 1320.  Seuyn Sag. (W.), 3906. Bese meri, & mase gude chere.

259 1382.  Wyclif, Isa. i. 16. Be ȝee washen, beth clene [1388 be ȝe clene].

260 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Milleres T., 392 (Harl.). Beoth [all 6-texts, be] merye, for the flood passeth anon.

261 c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, II. 649. Bes wakond and warly.

262 c. 1440.  Love, Bonavent. Mirr., xxvii. 56 (Sherard MS.). Be þou a man of prayer.

263 1480.  Caxton, Chron. Eng., cxcvii. 175. Bethe ware sirs.

264 1610.  Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 38. Obey and be attentiue.

265 1611.  Bible, Matt. vi. 16. When yee fast, bee not as the hypocrites.

266 1816.  Scott, Old Mort., 111. She says to him, Binna cast doun, but gird yoursell up to the great task o’ the day.

267 1839.  Longf., Ps. of Life. Be not like dumb driven cattle, Be a hero in the strife!

268   4.  Present Infinitive.

269   a.  from wes-: + OE. wes-an. Obs. [= OS., OHG. wesan, OFris. wesa, ON. vera, Goth. wisan.] Forms: 1 wesan, north. wosa, wossa. Replaced in 11th c. by beon.

270 a. 1000.  Cædmon’s Gen., 283 (Gr.). Ic mæʓ wesan god swá he.

271 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. vi. 8. Nallas ʓe ðonne wosa ʓelic him. [c. 975 Rushw. G., Ne scule forþon ʓelice beon him.]

272   b.  from be: be. Forms: 1–4 béon (1 north. bían), 2–5 ben, 3– be; also 2 bien, boen, 3–4 buen, 4 byen, bue, by, bi, 4–6 bene, been, 4–7 bee.

273 975.  [see prec.].

274 1070.  O. E. Chron. (Parker MS.). Hwi hi ðær beon ne mihton. Ibid. (1131), (Laud), an. 1127. Þær mihte wel ben abuton twenti.

275 c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 229. Naman ne mai bien ȝehalden.

276 c. 1200.  Moral Ode, 172, in Lamb. Hom., 171. Bliþe mai he þanne buen.

277 a. 1300.  K. Horn, 446. Þat schal beon idone: Þu schalt beo dubbed kniȝt.

278 1280.  Signs bef. Judgem., 33, in E. E. P. (1862), 8. Þe first tokning sal be þusse.

279 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1154. Þou sal bi halden vile. Ibid. (c. 1340) (Trin.). 4601. Suche defaute shal ben of breed.

280 c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 4137. Þay lete it bene.

281 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Franklin’s T., 36. Love wil nouht buen [v.r. been, ben(e, be] constreyned.

282 c. 1440.  Morte Arth. (Roxb.), 2. That auntre shall … by spoke of on euery syde.

283 1485.  Malory, Arthur (1817), II. 378. Wete ye wel he wold ben here.

284 Mod.  He bids me be quiet.

285   c.  Dative Infinitive: 1 to béonne, 2 to bienne, to boen, 3–4 to byenne, to buen, to bue, 3–5 to bene, 4–5 to ben, 4– to be.

286 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Luke ii. 49. Me ʓebyrað to beonne [Lindisf. to wosanne] on þam ðingum ðe mines fæder synt.

287 c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 203. To boen moder of swich sune. Ibid., 233. [Hit] áh to bienne.

288 a. 1200[?].  Solomon & Sat. (1848), 270. Betere were to bue wis.

289 c. 1300.  Harrow. Hell, 67. Forte buen oure fere.

290 1340.  Ayenb., 169. Þet wes y-woned to byenne þe ealde manere at rome.

291 1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., I. (1495), 6. He knoweth al thynges present and to be.

292 c. 1440.  Sir Degrev., 382. He prayd the portere ffor to bene his mesengere.

293 c. 1440.  Love, Bonavent. Mirr., x. 25 (Gibbs MS.). What tyme þey knewen þe chylde sought to bene [v.r. ben] slayne.

294 1602.  Shaks., Ham., III. i. 55. To be, or not to be, that is the Question.

295   5.  Present Participle.

296   a.  from stem wes-: † OE. wesende. Obs. [= OS., OFris. wesand, OHG. wesantêr, ON. vesandi, from 12th c. verandi, Goth. wisands.]

297 a. 1000.  Beowulf, 750. Ic hine cúðe cniht wesende.

298   b.  from be: being. Forms: 1–4 béonde, 4 beende, 4–7 north. beand; 4– being, (4 beoing, 4–6 beyng(e, 6 bying, 7 beinge, 8 beeing).

299 c. 1050.  in Wülcker, Voc., /398. Existentibus, wesendum, beondum.

300 a. 1300.  Cursor M. (Gött.), 4080. His breder mast in wildrenes beand. Ibid. (c. 1340) (Laud), 9428. To Adam being in paradice. Ibid. (c. 1340) (Trin.), 15312. In my blisse beonde.

301 1382.  Wyclif, Rom., Prol. New causes beende, also questiounes to comen aftir.

302 1475.  Caxton, Jason, 69 b. None of them beyng in the arke.

303 1535.  Coverdale, 1 Kings xvi. 4. Who so beynge of him dyeth in the felde.

304 c. 1538.  Starkey, England, II. i. 159. Some Bying to lytyl, some to grete.

305 1615.  G. Sandys, Trav., 115. The buildings now being, are meane and few.

306 Mod.  For the time being.

307   III.  Parts from stem wes- only.

308   6.  Past Indicative.

309   1 and 3 sing. was. [= Goth., OHG., OS., OFris. was, ON. var.] Forms: 1–3 wæs, 2–6 wes, 3– was, (3 weos, 4 wass(e, wase, wesse, wees, watz, 5 wys, 6 wes). Negative 1 næs, 3 neas, nes, 3–5 nas, 5 nasse. Until 16th or 17th c., was rhymed with pass, etc. In was’t = was it, it has still the s sound. (For was used in the plural, see below were ¶).

310 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., John i. 1. In fruma uæs uord.

311 c. 1000.  Ags. G., ibid., On frymðe wæs word.

312 c. 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., On anginne ærest wæs word.

313 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 17. He wes iboren of ure lefdi.

314 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 67. Al mankin, þe was … and nu is.

315 c. 1205.  Lay., 2984. Þat þæt wæs þe olde king. Ibid., 3466. And ich nas na wurdra, þenne ich nes weldinde.

316 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1074. Wid þe cheke bon of ane asse Men say þat abel slain wasse. Ibid., 12695. Sco was wit barn.

317 c. 1340.  Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1. Þe assaut watz sesed at Troye.

318 c. 1420.  Chron. Vilod., 799. A lytille child ybore þer wys.

319 c. 1420.  Pallad. on Husb., IV. 886. Gentiler in kynde never nasse.

320 1475.  Caxton, Jason, 6. Ther was grete nombre of speeres.

321 1611.  Bible, John i. 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

322   ¶ Dialectally were, war occur: hence the negative warn’t, wa’n’t, in 18th-c. dramatists.

323 1535.  Bury Wills (1850), 126. My rynge whych wher my wyffys.

324 1633.  Brome, North. Lass, II. ii. He sed I were a deaft Lasse.

325 1775.  Sheridan, Rivals, I. ii. (1883), 85. It wa’n’t fit for a Christian to read.

326 1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xxxiv. Was one of those voices Pickwick’s? Yes, it were, sir. Ibid. (1865), Mut. Fr., xii. Warn’t I troubled?

327   2 sing. wast, orig. were. [in Goth. wast, ON. vast, vart, OHG., OS. wâri, OFris. wêre.] Forms: 1 wǽre, 2–6 were, (3 wore), 6–7 werst, wart, 6– wert, wast. North. 3– was. Negative 1–3 nære, nere. The modern analogical wast has displaced the etymological were (with grammatical ablaut) chiefly under the influence of Tindale and the Bible; the intermediate wert (Shakespeare’s form) prevailed in literature during the 17th and 18th c., and has been used by many 19th-century writers.

328 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John i. 48. Þa þu wære [Rushw. were] under þam fictréowe.

329 c. 1300.  Havelok, 684. Cherl, als thou er wore.

330 c. 1300.  Cursor M. (Cott.), 6248. Ta þat wand Þat þou was wont [Trin. MS. þou were] ber in þi hand.

331 1382.  Wyclif, John i. 48. Whanne thou were vndir the fyge tree. [1534 Tindale, and all subseq. versions, When thou wast].

332 a. 1520.  Myrr. Our Ladye, 178. Thou O vyrgyn … that were souerayne delyte to god hymselfe … were ioye to aungels.

333 1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., II. i. 174. Thou wer’t borne a foole.

334 1617.  Hieron, Wks. (1628), II. 122. Why did I forget that thou wart an Observer?

335 1627.  Hakewill, Apologie (1630), 83. Thou, who werst a Christian before.

336 1738.  Glover, Leonidas, III. 560. Thou, who once wert Lacedæmon’s chief.

337 1748.  Richardson, Clarissa (1811), II. 204. Wert thou bid to come up?

338 1820.  Shelley, To Skylark, i. Hail to thee, blithe spirit! Bird thou never wert.

339 1822.  Hazlitt, Table-t., ser. II. iv. (1869), 91. Thou wert damned.

340 1875.  Browning, Aristoph. Apol., 232. Thou wast less friendly far than thou didst seem.

341   plural. were. [= OFris. wêran, OS. wârun, OHG. wârumes, wârut, wârun, ON. vǫrum, várum, váruð, váru, Goth. wesum, wesuþ, wesun.] Forms: 1 wærun, 1–2 wæron, 2 wæren, 2–5 weren, 3– were; (2 waren, 3–4 weore(n, wore(n, 3–6 ware, 4 warre, wair, quar, 4–6 werne, warn, wer, war, wher, whar, 5 werene, werun, 6 warren, werren.) Also 4– was. Negative 1–3 næron, neoren, nere.

342   (For were used in the sing. see above, was ¶).

343 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John i. 24. Þá wǽron of sundor-halʓan.

344 1160.  Hatton G., ibid., Þa wǽren.

345 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 15. Þas laȝen weren from Moyses.

346 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 31. Hie waren swiðe … ofdredde. Ibid., 143. Seuen awerȝede gostes ware on hire.

347 c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 2446. Swilc woren egipte laȝes.

348 a. 1300.  Havelok, 717. Hise two doutres, that faire wore.

349 a. 1300.  Cursor M. (Gött.). 11490. Þar iesu and his moder warn [v.r. wern, werne]. Ibid. (c. 1340) (Trin.). 388. Boþe were [v.r. war, ware, was] made sonne and mone.

350 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 28. And wel we weren esed atte beste. Ibid., 41. And eek in what array that they were inne.

351 c. 1410.  Love, Bonavent. Mirr., x. (Gibbs MS.). Þei þat werene so noble.

352 1462.  Paston Lett., 453, II. 104. Your brother and Debenham were at words.

353 1557.  Barclay (Paynell), Jugurth, 5 b. What tyme ye warre without riches.

354 1611.  Bible, Num. xiii. 33. Wee were in our owne sight as grashoppers, and so we were in their sight.

355   ¶ The plural had formerly also was; almost universally so in 16–18th c. with you when used as a singular. Still dial. in all persons.

356 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.), 944. Into þe world þere þei made was.

357 c. 1430.  Syr Gener., 5674. Traitoures was him euer loothe.

358 c. 1460.  Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon., 108. Whan thay came togeders, thay was … occupyyd with their own maters.

359 1588.  Shaks., Tit. A., IV. i. 38. There was more then one … I, more there was.

360 1677.  Wilkins, in Grew, Anat. Plants, Pref. You was very happy in the choice of this Subject.

361 1684.  Bunyan, Pilg., II. 76. I suppose you was in a dream.

362 1735.  Walpole, Corr. (1820), I. 3. When you was at Eton.

363 1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, VI. v. What was you reading when I came in?

364 1811.  Miss Austen, Sense & Sens. (1870), II. i. 122. I felt sure that you was angry with me.

365 1837.  Dickens, Pickw., xxxiii. You was to come to him at six o’clock.

366 Mod. dial.  They was here.

367   7.  Past Subjunctive.

368   1 and 3 sing. were. [= OFris. wêre, ON. væri, OS. and OHG. wâri, Goth. 1 wesjau, 3 wesi.] Forms: 1–2 wǽre, 2– were, (2–3 weore, 3–4 wor(e, 4–5 ware, war, 6 weare.)

369 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 5. Er þis were.

370 a. 1250.  Owl & Night., 1312. Ȝif ich were a bisimere.

371 a. 1300.  Havelok, 1938. Me wore leuere I wore lame.

372 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1599. Þou he war [v.r. were] wrath it was na wrang.

373 c. 1440.  Love, Bonavent. Mirr., x. 25. (Gibbs MS.). As he were a pore man.

374 1486.  Bk. St. Albans, A iiij. As it ware the mawe of a pegeon.

375 1529.  More, in Four C. Eng. Lett., 12. What way wer best to take.

376 1788.  Burns, Oh, were I on Parnassus’ Hill!

377 1852.  Miss Yonge, Cameos, I. vi. 42. By my faith it were treason.

378 1863.  Geo. Eliot, Romola, x. If I were only a Theocritus.

379 Mod.  Would I were there!

380   2 sing. wert, formerly were. [= OFris. wêre, ON. værir, OS. and OHG. wârîs, Goth. weseis. The final -t in Eng., formerly -est, -st, is on the analogy of the indic.] Forms: 1–2 wǽre, 2–6 were; 6–7 werest, werst; 6– wert.

381 c. 1300.  Harrow. Hell, 131. Were thou among men.

382 1535.  Coverdale, 2 Esdras v. 30. Though thou werest enemye. Ibid., Ezek. xxviii. 6. As though thou werst God.

383 1611.  Bible, Rev. iii. 15. I would thou wert cold or hote [Wyclif, Coverd., Cranmer, Rhem. were, Genev. werest].

384 a. 1796.  Burns, Oh, wert thou in the cauld blast.

385   plural. were with grammatical ablaut. [= OFris. wêre, ON. værim, -ið, -i, OS. wârin, OHG. wârîmês, -ît, -în, Goth. weseima, -eiþ, -eina.] Forms: 1–2 wǽren, 2–4 weren, (3 weoren, 3–4 woren, waren), 3– were, (3 weore, 4 wore, weere, 4–6 war(e, 6 wer.)

386 c. 1205.  Lay., 50. Out of þeowedome, freo þat heo weoren [1250 were].

387 c. 1300.  Havelok, 2661. And fouhten so thei woren wode.

388 1480.  Robt. Devyll, 10. Ye were better lette me a lone.

389 1571.  Lyndesay, MS. Collect. Swownand, lyk as thai war bot life.

390 1611.  Bible, John xv. 19. If ye were of the world, the world would loue his owne [So Tindale, etc.].

391 1766.  Fordyce, Serm. Yng. Wom., II. viii. 4. Were these extinguished, what were this world?

392 1868.  Browning, Ring & Bk., II. 1153. Were they verily the lady’s own … she must be the fondest of the frail.

393   ¶ For the singular, the indicative form was was common in 17–18th c.; it was even used for the plural by writers who used was in the plural indicative.

394 1684.  Bunyan, Pilg., II. 77. As if one was awake.

395 1713.  Beveridge, Private Th., II. (1730), 46. Which certainly would be the greatest Absurdity … was not they God as well as He.

396 1760.  Sterne, Serm., Yorick, viii. (1773), 88. A man, of whom, was you to form a conjecture [etc.]. Ibid. (1768), Sent. Journ. (1778), I. 85. Was I in a desert, I would find out [etc.].

397 1787.  G. White, Selborne, v. (1789), 11. The manor of Selborne, was it strictly looked after … would swarm with game.

398   IV.  Parts from be only.

399   8.  Past Participle: been. Forms: Southern ? 1–2 ʓebéon, 2–3 ibeon, ibon, iben, ibi, 3–4 ibeo, beo, 3–5 ibe, ybe, 4 yben, by, 4–6 be. Northern ? 2–3 beon, 3–7 ben, 4 beyn, buen, 4–7 bene, 5–6 byn(ne, 6–8 bin, 7– beene, 5– been. Not known in OE., where no pa. pple. of any of these verbs (am, was, be) appears. The common literary form in 14–15th c. was be, before the general acceptance of the northern ben, bene. South-western dialects have still a-be = ibe. (In U.S. often pronounced ben.)

400 a. 1107.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1096. He heafde ʓebeon on þes cynges swicdome.

401 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 159. Wel longe ich habbe child ibon [v.r. iben, ibeo].

402 c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 239. Þus hit hað ibi and is.

403 c. 1200.  Ormin, 8399. Haffde he beon. Ibid., 2311. Hafde ben.

404 c. 1205.  Lay., 8325. Þu hafuest ibeon [1250 beon] ouer-cumen.

405 a. 1230.  Ancr. R., 316. Ich habbe ibeon fol.

406 a. 1300.  Cursor M. (Cott.) 14638. War yemed haf I ben [Gött. bene].

407 c. 1300.  Beket, 133. Lute we habbeth to-gadere I-beo.

408 c. 1300.  Harrow. Hell, 173. So longe we haveth buen herynne.

409 1375.  Barbour, Bruce, I. 527. Thai mycht nocht haiff beyn tane.

410 c. 1375.  Wyclif, Serm., xliii. Sel. Wks. 1871, II. 346. Trespassours, þat wolden … have be ever wantoun.

411 1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XIV. 95. As it neuere had ybe.

412 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 60. At mortal batailles hadde he be [v.r. ben, been] fiftene. Ibid., Merch. T., 1157. A man that longe hath blynd ybe [v.r. ibe, blynde be].

413 c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, XII. 8913. Þat any dede has be don.

414 c. 1420.  Sir Amadace, xxxix. A mon that hase alle way bynne kynde.

415 c. 1450.  Merlin, xv. 239. Where the battle had I-be.

416 1455.  E. Clere, in Four C. Eng. Lett., 5. Nor wist not where he had be, whils he had be seke til now.

417 1483.  Act 1 Rich. III., i. § 1. As … if this Act had not be made.

418 1526.  Tindale, John v. 5. Which had bene [1582 Rhem. been] diseased. Ibid., xiv. 9. Haue I bene [1611 bin] so long tyme with you?

419 1575.  J. Still, Gamm. Gurton, V. ii. Had my hens be stolne eche one.

420 1579.  Lyly, Euphues (1636), E iij b. Had it not bin better for thee?

421 1560.  Jewel, Serm. Matt. ix. 37–8. As if they had byn a flock of sheepe.

422 c. 1645.  Howell, Lett. (1726), 23. Having bin so rocked and shaken at Sea.

423 1864.  Tennyson, En. Ard., 420. You have been as God’s good angel in our house.

424   B.  Signification and uses.

425   [The primary sense appears to have been that of branch II below, ‘to occupy a place’ (i.e., to sit, stand, lie, etc.) in some specified place; thence the more abstract branch I was derived by abstracting the notion of particular place, so as to emphasize that of actual existence, ‘to be somewhere, no matter where, to be in the universe, or realm of fact, to have a place among existing things, to exist.’ Branch III was derived from II by weakening the idea of actual presence, into the merely intellectual conception of ‘having a place’ in a class of notions, or ‘being identical with’ another notion: ‘centaurs are imaginary creatures’ = ‘centaurs have their place in the class of creatures of the imagination.’ Branch IV is an obvious extension of III: cf. ‘it was annoying to me,’ with ‘it was annoying me.’]

426   I.  absolutely: To have or take place in the world of fact, to exist, occur, happen.

427   1.  To have place in the objective universe or realm of fact, to exist; also, to exist in life, to live.

428 c. 1000.  Ælfric, Exod. iii. 14. Ic eom se þe eom cwæþ he … se ðe ys me sende to eow.

429 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Fairf.), 9732. This world … hast þou made fadir þorogh me to bene.

430 1548.  Udall, Erasm. Par. Matt. xxii. 105. They beleue … nothyng to be but that whiche they see.

431 1587.  Golding, De Mornay, iii. 26. All things that are, or euer were, or shall hereafter bee.

432 1611.  Bible, Gen. v. 24. Enoch walked with God: and hee was not, for God tooke him.

433 1698.  Dryden, Æneid, II. 438. Troy is no more, and Ilium was a Town.

434 1732.  Pope, Ess. Man, I. 109. To Be, contents his natural desire.

435 1810.  Scott, Lady of L., III. i. How are they blotted from the things that be.

436 1823.  Byron, Juan, IX. xxiv. Tyrants and sycophants have been and are.

437 1827.  Carlyle, Misc. (1857), I. 61. God is, nay alone is. Ibid. (1837), Fr. Rev., I. i. 6. So much that was not is beginning to be.

438   b.  with there. [See THERE, for its use with verbs.]

439 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 10783. There bene reasons wretyn sere That god wold she spousid were.

440 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Pers. T., ¶ 21. Ther ben thre acciouns of penitence.

441 1426.  Audelay, Poems, 16. Ther bene bot feu truly.

442 1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 86. Thers no redempcion.

443 a. 1586.  Answ. Cartwright, 79. There were of the princes that tooke his parte.

444 1650.  Baxter, Saints’ R., I. i. (1662), 3. There’s few will deny, that God knows.

445 1711.  Pope, Rape Lock, 79. Some nymphs there are, too conscious of their face.

446 Mod.  There are photographs and photographs.

447   2.  To come into existence, come about, happen, occur, take place, be acted or done.

448   (To become, come about, was the OE. and early ME. sense of béon, while still a distinct vb., before it became blended with am, was.)

449 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. xxiv. 3. Cueð us, hoenne ðas biðon.

450 c. 975.  Rushw. G., ibid., Sæʓe us hwænne þas beoþ.

451 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 177. Hu scal þat bon?

452 c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 1930. Manly on þe morwe þat mariage schuld bene.

453 1530.  Palsgr., 421/1. Be as be may, vaille que vaille.

454 1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 43. Be as be maie is no bannyng.

455 1775.  Sheridan, Rivals, in Casquet. Lit. (1877), IV. 37/2. Your husband that shall be.

456 a. 1804.  Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp., II. 457. Marry … speedily, or the to be Mrs. Berry will have very little of your company.

457 Mod.  When is the wedding to be? The flower-show was last week.

458   3.  To be the case or the fact, esp. in the phrases So be, Be it that = if it be the case that, suppose that, and the arch. or dial. Being, Being that = it being the case that, seeing that, since. Hence the adverb HOWBEIT.

459 c. 1314.  Guy Warw., 203. Bi so that he wille kisse me, Euer eft we schul frendes be.

460 c. 1400.  Maundev., v. 40. Beso it be not aȝenst his Lawe.

461 1547.  Brende, Lett., in Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), III. 380. If so be he will stand.

462 1549.  Latimer, Serm. bef. Edw. VI., vi. I. 178. Be it so, the Corinthians had no such contentions among them.

463 1611.  Bible, Job xix. 4. And be it indeed that I haue erred.

464 1851.  J. Hume, Repent., iv. Poems 96. So-be the haunting sense of wrong … Were loosen’d from his breast.

465 1528.  T. More, Heresyes, III. Wks. 214/2. Beyng though they wer but men.

466 1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. i. 199. You loyter heere too long, being you are to take Souldiers vp.

467 1641.  Best, Farm. Bks. (1856), 120. They went all for halfe gates, beinge that they coulde not bee discerned.

468 1641.  Milton, Ch. Discip., II. Wks. (1851), 61. Being they are Church-men, we may rather suspect [etc.].

469 1659.  Pearson, Creed, To Rdr. Being the Creed comprehendeth the principles of our religion, it must [etc.].

470 1692.  Lady Russell, Lett., 26 May. I believe your newspapers … tell you all, but being there is nothing newer, I would do it too.

471 1815.  Scott, Guy M., ix. With whom he himself had no delight in associating, ‘being that he was addicted unto profane and scurrilous jests.’

472   4.  To remain or go on in its existing condition; in the archaic phrase let be = let alone, leave as it is; leave off, cease; Sc. omit, leave out.

473 1297.  R. Glouc., 153. Uter let al this be.

474 c. 1380.  Sir Ferumb., 281. Al ȝour mornyng leteþ now ben.

475 c. 1386.  Chaucer, Frere’s Prol., 25. Telleth your tale, and let the sompnour be.

476 1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. V. 174. Let be al ȝoure ianglyng.

477 c. 1450.  Merlin, i. 16. Let me be, and beth in pes.

478 1513.  Douglas, Æneis, IV. vi. 159. With thi complayntis … Lat be to vex me. Ibid., IX. Prol. 25. All lous langage and lychtnes lattand be.

479 1530.  Palsgr., 607/1. Let be this nycenesse, my frende.

480 1596.  Spenser, F. Q., II. vii. 18. Lett be thy bitter scorne.

481 1611.  Bible, Matt. xxvii. 49. Let be, let vs see whether Elias will.

482 1775.  H. Baillie, Lett., I. 51 (Jam.). Morton, Roxburgh, let be Haddington or Stirling, were not of sufficient shoulder. Ibid., I. 170. He had never any such resolution, let be plot.

483 1869.  Blackmore, Lorna D., xv. (1872), 89. I thank you; let me be.

484   b.  Here may be included an idiom in which be is practically = ‘continue, remain,’ though the analysis is not clear, and there is apparently confusion of structure.

485 1601.  Shaks., All’s Well, II. i. 94. Ile fit you, And not be all day neither.

486 1865.  Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., IV. XII. iv. 151. Town-Officer is some considerable time before he can return [? = It is some considerable time before Town Officer can return.

487   But cf. the following, which have various relations with other senses:

488 1570.  Ascham, Scholem., I. (Arb.), 35. I haue bene longer in describing the nature … of the quicke and hard witte than … the matter doth require.

489 1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., II. v. 34. He hath bin all this day to looke you.

490 1628.  Digby, Voy. Medit. (1868), 7. And they having bin a long time from any port.

491 Mod.  I was a long while unable to arise; I was [also, it was] a long while before I could rise. You have been rather long about it. Go, but don’t be long! [Cf. also such phrases as ‘We are ten miles, an hour’s drive, two hours, from the nearest railway station,’ which come under 5.]

492   II.  With adverb or prepositional phrase: stating where or how, i.e., in what place or state a thing is. [= Sp., Pg. estar as distinct from ser.]

493   5.  To have or occupy a place (i.e., to sit, stand, lie, hang, etc.—the posture not being specified or regarded) somewhere, the ‘where’ being expressed either by an adverb or a preposition with object. Expressing the most general relation of a thing to its place: To have one’s personality, substance, or presence, to be present, so as to find oneself, or be to be found (in, at, or near a place, with an object, etc.).

494 a. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., II. 298. On swa hwilcum huse swa he biþ.

495 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxviii. 20. Ic béo mid eow ealle daʓas.

496 1297.  R. Glouc., 374. Hou mony plou lond, & hou mony hyden al so, Were in eueryche ssyre.

497 c. 1300.  Harrow. Hell, 82. Alle tho that bueth heryne.

498 c. 1400.  Maundev., ii. 10. Some men trowen that half the Cros … be in Cipres.

499 1465.  Marg. Paston, in Lett., 505, II. 194. Ryght glad that we err ther a mongs hem.

500 1674.  Brevint, Saul at Endor, 164. He having bin in his Coffin the greatest part of the night after his death.

501 1722.  De Foe, Hist. Plague (1754), 6. Terrible Apprehensions were among the People.

502 1771.  Fletcher, Check, Wks. 1795, II. 194. You are just where you was.

503 1821.  Byron, Sardan., III. i. 401. Again the love-fit’s on him.

504 1861.  Thackeray, Georges, iii. 120. Where be the sentries who used to salute?

505 Mod.  Your book is here, under the table.

506   b.  Often used with there, esp. when the subject is introduced to notice: cf. ‘your brother (about whom you ask) is in the garden,’ with ‘there is a cow (something not previously present to the mind) in the garden.’

507 [1475.  Caxton, Jason, 8 b. And were no more on their side but they two only.]

508 1594.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., Pref. i. § 2. If there be in you that gracious humility.

509 1675.  Evelyn, Mem. (1857), II. 103. There was not his equal in the whole world.

510 1821.  Byron, Sardan., I. i. There be bright faces in the hall.

511   6.  Idiomatically, in past, now only in perfect and pluperfect tenses, with to, and a substantive, or infinitive of purpose: To have been (at the proper place) in order to, or for the purpose of. Cf. Sp. and Pg. fué ‘I was’ in sense of ‘I went.’

512 c. 1645.  Howell, Lett. (1678), 24. I was yesterday to wait upon Sir Herbert Croft.

513 1747.  Lady Shaftesb. in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury, I. 51. I was to see the new farce.

514 1760.  Goldsm., Cit. W. (1840), 158. I was this morning to buy silk for a nightcap.

515 Mod.  Have you been to the Crystal Palace? I had been to see Irving that night.

516   b.  To be off, be away: a graphic expression for ‘to go at once, take oneself off.’

517 1826.  Disraeli, Viv. Grey, VI. vi. 352. We had better order our horses and be off.

518 1873.  Black, Pr. Thule, xii. 186. The stag … was away like lightning down the bed of the stream.

519 1884.  W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 65. I must be off into the woods.

520   7.  To sit, stand, remain, etc., in a defined circumstantial position, e.g., to be in debt, at one’s ease; to have one’s existence in a certain state or condition. a. with prep. phrase.

521 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 7. Ȝef we beoð under soð scrifte.

522 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Laud MS.), 942. Therfor ye bene in wo and stryfe. Ibid., 10446. When þou shuldist be best at ease.

523 c. 1430.  Syr Gener. (1865), 41. Al men that on live bene.

524 1531–2.  Act 23 Hen. VIII., xvi. One halfe of the price … shalbe to the use of the seysour.

525 1535.  Coverdale, Zech. viii. 2. I was in a greate gelousy ouer Sion.

526 1540.  Hyrde, Vives’ Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592), E ij. To bee at the lust of the Judge.

527 1611.  Bible, Ex. v. 19. They were in euill case.

528 1666.  Marvell, Corr., liv. Wks. 1872–5, II. 191. Proposalls that have bin undir deliberation.

529 1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 369, ¶ 14. Any one … who will be at the pains of examining it.

530 1866.  Kingsley, Herew., xvii. 214. The battle … is more in my way.

531   b.  with adverb.

532 c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 547. Nay best beþ it nouȝt so.

533 1463.  Plumpton Corr., 8. I trust all shalbe well.

534 1611.  Bible, Gen. xliii. 27. Is your father well? [Wyclif saaf; Coverd., Geneva in good health].

535 1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., III. 717. Content to be and to be well.

536 1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 171. Asking how his Highness was.

537   8.  To belong pertain. befall: with dat. or to, = have. Cf. L. est mihi, Fr. c’est à moi. Now only in exclamations or wishes (where, also, be is often omitted), as Wo is me! Wo be to the transgressor! Success (be) to your efforts!

538 a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter cxxviii. 2. Wele bes to þe nou.

539 1382.  Wyclif, Luke i. 7. A sone was not to hem.

540 c. 1400.  Maundev., 36. The kyngdom of Arabye that was to on of the 3 kynges.

541 1535.  Coverdale, Ps. cxxvii. 2. O well is the, happie art thou.

542 1602.  Shaks., Ham., II. ii. 124. Whilst this Machine is to him. Ibid. (1605), Lear, I. i. 68. To thine and Albanies issues be this perpetuall.

543 1611.  Bible, Ecclus. xxv. 9. Well is him that hath found prudence. Ibid., Eph. vi. 23. Peace be to the brethren. Ibid., Rev. i. 4. Grace be vnto you, and peace, from him which is.

544   † b.  To pertain as a misfortune, to have befallen to; to be amiss, be the matter with, ail. Obs.

545 1297.  R. Glouc., 128. Merlyn wat ys the?

546 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 4395. Leuedi, quat es at ȝou? [v.r. what is ȝou? what ayles ȝou?]

547 a. 1300.  Floriz & Bl., 467. [Thei] axede hire what hire were.

548 a. 1300.  Havelok, 2704. Godrich, wat is þe, þat þou fare þus with me?

549   III.  With adjective, substantive, or adjective phrase; acting as simple copula: stating of what sort or what a thing is. [= Sp., Pg. ser, as distinct from estar.]

550   9.  To exist as the subject of some predicate, i.e., to have a place among the things distinguished by a specified quality or name. a. with adj.

551 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xi. 30. Min ʓeoc is wynsum and min byrðyn ys leoht.

552 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 197. Ne beo ich neuer bliðe.

553 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Trin.), 3109. Þe folke was gode, þe world was clene. Ibid., 12578. Ar he were tuelue ȝeer olde.

554 1387.  Trevisa, Higden (1865), I. 9. Now men beþ al sad.

555 c. 1440.  Morte Arth. (Roxb.), 74. Wemen are frele.

556 c. 1440.  Hylton, Scala Perf. (W. de W., 1494), xx. Ful drye & ful colde arn her hertes.

557 1534.  Tindale, John xiii. 11. Ye are not all clene.

558 1579.  Lyly, Euphues (1636), D viij. Neither haue I bin curious to inquire of his Progenitors.

559 1611.  Bible, Ps. cviii. 30. Then are they glad because they be quiet.

560 1652.  Needham, Selden’s Mare Cl., 171. Whose name is very frequent in the mouths of men.

561 1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 144. Gaunt are his Sides, and sullen is his Face.

562 1830.  Tennyson, Mariana. I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead.

563   b.  with phrase = adj. (closely allied to 7).

564 c. 1200.  Ormin, 2455. Þu best wiþþ childe.

565 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 10303. Fastinge he was in wille to be. Ibid., 10572. Anna wit child was of a mai.

566 c. 1400.  Partonope, 874. Beth of goode comfort.

567 1592.  West, Symbol., I. I. § 9. Of which sort bin all naturall Obligations.

568 1734.  trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), I. III. 260. He was of Memphis.

569 1748.  Hartley, Observ. Man, I. § 1 ¶ 46. The Instance above noted is most to this Purpose.

570 1828.  Scott, F. M. Perth, II. 67. Be of good courage.

571 1837.  Newman, Par. Serm., I. xxiv. 365. Religion is said to be against nature.

572 1867.  Times, 18 Nov., 7/2. The advices from Adelaide, South Australia, by the present mail are to the 28th of September.

573   c.  with sb. (used connotatively).

574 c. 950.  Lindisf. Gosp., Matt. viii. 9. Forðon and ic monn amm under mæht.

575 c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 219. Hi bæð alle gastes.

576 c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 458. Al arn we membrez of Ihesu kryst.

577 c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks. (1871), III. 442. Þese freres bene men of holy Chirche.

578 1570.  Ascham, Scholem., I. (Arb.), 68. You be indeed makers or marrers.

579 1626.  R. Bernard, Isle of Man (1627), 155. I haue alwayes bin a free man.

580 1678.  Bunyan, Pilg., I. 14. Though I have bin An undeserving rebel.

581 1817.  Byron, Manfred, II. iv. 133. I feel but what thou art—and what I am.

582 1850.  Lynch, Theo. Trin., x. 200. Only by being man can we know man.

583   10.  with sb. To exist as the thing known by a certain name; to be identical with.

584 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., John xix. 21. Ic eom iudea cyning.

585 c. 1160.  Hatt. G., ibid., Ich ém iudea kyning.

586 c. 1340.  Hampole, Pr. Consc., 946. God … es maker of althynge, And of alle creatures þe bygynnynge.

587 c. 1400.  Gamelyn, 583. Hit ben þe Shirreues men.

588 1486.  Plumpton Corr., 49. These bent the tydings that I know.

589 c. 1530.  Redforde, Play Wyt & Sc. (1848), 3. Ah! syr, what tyme of day yst?

590 1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., III. ii. 73. Am I Dromio? Am I your man? Am I my selfe? Ibid. (1610), Temp., I. ii. 434. My selfe am Naples.

591 1630.  Wadsworth, Sp. Pilgr., i. 4. ’Twas clear it was not gaine was his marke.

592 1805.  Foster, Ess., II. vi. 204. Let thinking be reasoning.

593 1872.  Yeats, Tech. Hist. Comm., 212. The earth and the atmosphere are the two sources.

594   11.  To be the same in purport as; to signify, amount to, mean.

595 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 5. Vigilate, þat is beð wakiende.

596 c. 1220.  Hali Meid., 3. Him ȝeme hwat euch word bee sunderliche to seggen.

597 a. 1230.  Ancr. R., 58. Best is þe bestliche mon þæt ne þencheð nout of God.

598 1302.  Wyclif, Gen. xli. 26. Seuen oxen fayr, and seuen eerys fulle, seuen ȝeris of plentith ben.

599 1611.  Bible, ibid., The seuen good kine are seuen yeares.

600 1597.  Bacon, Coulers Good & Evill, Ess. (Arb.), 153. The burning of that had bin gradus privationis.

601 1884.  Royal Cornwall Gaz., 7 March, 7/4. Lieutenant Freeman, 19th Hussars, also fell in this struggle and to fall was to die.

602 Mod.  I’ll tell you what it is, you must leave.

603   12.  To amount to (something) of moment or importance, to ‘signify’ to a person; to concern.

604 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 13383. Quat es þat to me and þe? Ibid., 16487. What is that to vs?

605 1526.  Tindale, Matt. xxvii. 4. What is that to vs? Se thou to that.

606 1611.  Bible, Lam. i. 12. Is it nothing to you, all ye that passe by?

607 Mod.  Is it nothing to you, that you have alienated your friends?

608   13.  ellipt. To be good for, to be at the expense of, ‘stand.’ Obs. or dial.

609 1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, VIII. v. The wine being now at an end, the barber pressed very eagerly to be his bottle. Ibid., XV. xii. I said I would be my pot too.

610 1765.  Goldsm., Strolling Player, Ess., vi. If I have threepence in my pocket I never refuse to be my three halfpence.

611 Mod. Colloq.  He was asked to be his share in the expense and refused.

612   IV.  With participles and infinitives, serving as an auxiliary and forming periphrastic tenses.

613   14.  With past participle: a. in transitive verbs, forming the passive voice. (For present pple. passive, see 15 c.)

614 c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, l. 9. Ðu on-striʓdes mec mid ysopan … ðu ðwes mec, & ofer snaw, ic biom ge-whitad [Wyclif, And I shal ben clensid].

615 c. 885.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., xiii. 40. Ic eom of wundrod.

616 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 59. In þe font we weren eft iboren.

617 c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 571. Mony ben calle[d].

618 c. 1410.  Love, Bonavent. Mirr., x. 24 (Gibbs MS.). We shulden not by styred to impacyence.

619 1606.  G. W[oodcocke], Hist. Ivstine, 31 b. Pausanias, being attached for treason, fled.

620 1637.  Decr. Star Chamb. on Printing, 11 July § 2. That no person … print or cause to bee printed.

621 1674.  Brevint, Saul at Endor, 140. Vows … were never heard to have bin made to any Saint, but to God alone.

622 1683.  Col. Rec. Pennsylvania, I. 57. Bee it enacted by the Authority aforesaid that ye days of ye week … shall be called as in Scripture.

623 1874.  Helps, Soc. Press., iii. 57. The political aspect of the subject has not been approached.

624   b.  in intransitive verbs, forming perfect tenses, in which use it is now largely displaced by have after the pattern of transitive verbs: be being retained only with come, go, rise, set, fall, arrive, depart, grow, and the like, when we express the condition or state now attained, rather than the action of reaching it, as ‘the sun is set,’ ‘our guests are gone,’ ‘Babylon is fallen,’ ‘the children are all grown up.’

625 894.  O. E. Chron. Wæs Hæsten þá þǽr cumen mid his herʓe.

626 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 173. Alle þe sinfulle þe forð sende farene.

627 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 14322. Thre dais es gan.

628 c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 1457. Þe grete lordes … beþ lenged now here.

629 c. 1450.  Merlin, x. 165. In euell tyme ben oure enmyes entred.

630 1523.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxxix. 156. They are rested in there batayls.

631 1556.  Veron, Godly Sayings (1846), 145. Aungels, that bene come down from heaven.

632 1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., V. i. 361. These children, Which accidentally are met together.

633 1628.  Hobbes, Thucyd. (1822), 62. He gave out they were run away.

634 1670.  G. H., Hist. Cardinals, I. I. 24. Some there are, who believe that Miracles are not ceas’d.

635 1671.  Milton, P. R., II. 140. Therefore I am returned.

636 1685.  Lond. Gaz., No. 2069/4. The Dartmouth is Sailed to the Westward.

637 1773.  Goldsm., Stoops to Conq., I. i. (1854), 50. He informs me his son is set out.

638 1852.  Miss Yonge, Cameos, I. ix. 58. His parents were grown old.

639   15.  With the present participle, forming continuous varieties of the tenses. a. with active signification. In OE. only wæs was so used, forming a kind of imperfect; the present was in use by the 13th c. In later times this was confused with a formation upon the vbl. sb., of which see examples under A prep.1 13; the OE. he wæs feohtende, and ME. ‘he was a-fighting,’ meet in the modern ‘he was fighting.’

640 885.  O. E. Chron. Æþelwulf ferde to Rome and þær wæs xii monaþ wuniende.

641 c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 225. Adam þa wes wuniende on þeses life.

642 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 15665. Bes [v.r. be] wakand ai in orisun.

643 c. 1400.  Maundev., xxiii. 253. Thei trowen … thei schulle be etynge and drynkynge.

644 1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 37. Leat vs be trudgeing.

645 1576.  Lambarde, Peramb. Kent. Some fleeting beene in floodes.

646 1653.  Holcroft, Procopius, 29. The Romans being preparing their dinners.

647 1684.  Bunyan, Pilg., II. 227. He was talking of thee.

648 1727.  Vanbrugh, Journ. Lond., I. 1. It’s at the Door, they are getting out.

649 1750.  Harris, Hermes (1841), 142. Riseth means, is rising; writeth, is writing.

650 1774.  Burke, Sp. Amer. Tax., Wks. II. 401. I hope I am not going into a narrative troublesome to the house.

651 1863.  Geo. Eliot, Romola, xlv. The bells were still ringing.

652   b.  with passive signification: in such expression as ‘the ark was building,’ the last word was originally the gerund or verbal substantive, and the full expression was ‘the ark was a-building or in building,’ of which see instances under A prep.1 12.

653 1551.  Robinson, trans. More’s Utop. (1869), 64. Whyles a commodye of Plautus is playinge.

654 1557.  N. T. (Geneva), 1 Pet. iii. 20. While the arcke was [1611 was in] preparing.

655 1685.  R. Burton, Eng. Emp. Amer., ii. 28. Strong preparations being making for wars.

656 Mod.  We stayed there while our house was building.

657   c.  The ambiguity of the construction ‘is building’ in the two preceding senses has led in modern Eng. to the use in the latter sense of ‘is being built,’ formed upon the present pple. passive ‘being built.’

658 [1596.  Of Ghostes and Spirits, 14. The noyse of a leafe being mooved so affrighteth him.

659 1653.  H. More, Antid. Ath., 26. Acting and being acted upon by others.

660 1754.  Richardson, Grandison, III. 46. To sit up late either reading or being read to.

661 1769.  Mrs. Harris, in Lett. 1st Ld. Malmesbury (1870), I. 180. There is a good opera of Pugniani’s now being acted.

662 1779.  J. Harris, ibid., I. 410. Sir Guy Carlton was four hours being examined.]

663 1795.  Southey, in C. Southey, Life, I. 249. A fellow … whose grinder is being torn out by the roots.

664 1797.  Coleridge, in Biog. Lit. (1847), II. 317. While my hand was being dressed.

665 1823.  Lamb, Elia, Inconv. being hanged. A man who is being strangled.

666 1846.  Newman, Ess. Crit. & Hist., II. 448. At this very moment, souls are being led into the Catholic Church.

667 a. 1859.  De Quincey, Wks., IV. 7. Not done, not even (according to modern purism) being done.

668 1873.  Huxley, Crit. & Addresses, 247. The corpuscles enter into the eggs while they are being formed.

669   16.  With the dative infinitive, making a future of appointment or arrangement; hence of necessity, obligation or duty; in which sense have is now commonly substituted.

670   † a.  with infinitive active. Obs.

671 c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 3. Alle þo þe habben ben … and alle þo þe ben to cumen her after.

672 1382.  Wyclif, Gen. xiii. 17. I am to [1388 Y schal] ȝyue it to thee. Ibid. (1382), Eccles. ii. 18. I knowe not whether wis or fool he be to ben.

673 1622.  Massinger, Virgin Mart., III. i. A King of Egypt, being to erect The image of Osiris.

674 1692.  Locke, Educ., § 167. If a Gentleman be to study any Language, it ought to be that of his own Country.

675 1703.  Rowe, Fair Penit., Ded. If this be not a receiv’d Maxim, yet I am sure I am to wish it were.

676 1725.  De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 22. Mighty uneasy … about their being to go back again.

677 1742.  Richardson, Pamela, III. 264. I am to thank you, my dear Miss, for your kind Letter.

678 1814.  Scott, Wav., I. v. 55. Had he been to chuse between any punishment … and the necessity.

679   † b.  Hence, To be to seek: to have to seek, to be obliged to seek, to be in want or at a loss. Obs.

680 1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 89. The complete measure of it … that such as are desirous of knowledge be not to seek in any one thing.

681 1625.  Bacon, Usury, Ess. (Arb.), 544. The Merchant wil be to seeke for Money.

682 1653.  Holcroft, Procopius, I. 4. Being to seek his food he would hunt for it.

683 1654.  (12 Sept.) Cromwell, Sp. (Carl., 1871), IV. 52. We were exceedingly to seek how to settle things.

684 a. 1674.  Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. v. (1702), 454. They were very much to seek, how the Case of Hull could concern Descents and Purchases.

685 1832.  Fair of May Fair, III. ii. 278. It was excusable that a man having passed so large a portion of those sixty years in a compting house, could be somewhat to seek in the economy of his social system.

686   c.  with infinitive passive.

687 1581.  Fulke, in Confer., III. (1584), O iiij b. He him selfe being to iudge all men, is to bee iudged of no man.

688 a. 1674.  Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. II. 118. Being to be made Earl of Strafford.

689 1869.  Freeman, Norm. Conq., III. xii. 145. Normandy was to be invaded on each side.

690   17.  The same construction is used in the sense of ‘to be proper or fit (to).’ a. with infinitive active. arch. and now commonly expressed by b.

691 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 133. Hit is to witene.

692 c. 1340.  Cursor M. (Fairf.), 12861. Wat is to do.

693 1340.  Ayenb., 5. Þet is to zigge.

694 c. 1388.  in Wyclif’s Sel. Wks., 1871, III. 468. Hit ys not to gife dymes to a persoun.

695 1483.  Caxton, G. de la Tour, E v. Suche … wymmen be to compare to the wyf of Lothe.

696 1528.  Perkins, Prof. Bk., i. § 36 (1642), 16. Now it is to shew.

697 1634.  Malory’s Arthur (1816), II. 308. The four … is to understand the four evangelists.

698 Mod.  Is this house to let? They are not to compare with these.

699   b.  with infinitive passive.

700 1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 1545. Þey beþ to be blamede eft.

701 1588.  J. Udall, Demonstr. Discip. (Arb.), 54. If the whole … be to bee obserued vntill the ende.

702 1679.  Penn, Addr. Prot., II. § 2 (1692), 76. Not a Good Samaritan being to be found.

703 1798.  Malthus, Popul. (1817), II. 194. It must be to be depended upon.

704   18.  The past subjunctive were with the infinitive makes an emphatically hypothetical condition: cf. the degrees of uncertainty in If I went, If I should go, If I were to go.

705 1596.  Raleigh, in Four C. Eng. Lett., 37. If I weare … to advize my sealf.

706 Mod.  If I were to propose, would you accept? Were he to ask me, it would be different.

707   V.  Phraseological combinations.

708   19.  In I were better (best, as good), the nominative pronoun took catachrestically the place of an earlier dative (me were better = it were better to or for me): modern usage substitutes had better, after the analogy of had liefer, rather, etc. Cf. HAVE, LIEF, RATHER.

709   (See F. Hall, ‘Had Rather’ in Amer. Jrnl. Philol., II. No. 7. 1881.)

710 c. 1300.  St. Marg., 180. Þe were betere habbe [= it were better for thee to have] bileued atom, þan icome me to fonde.

711 c. 1430.  Syr Tryam., 399. Sche wyste not whedur-warde … Sche was best to goone.

712 c. 1590.  Marlowe, Jew of Malta, IV. iv. 1653. I … told him he were best to send it.

713 1597.  Lyly, Wom. in Moone, III. ii. 185. Sirra, provide the banquet, you are best.

714 1610.  Shaks., Temp., I. ii. 366. Be quicke thou’rt best. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., III. ii. 79. Madam, you’re best consider.

715 1612.  Chapman, Widdowes’ T., Plays, 1873, III. 12. Y’are best take you to your stand.

716 1647.  Ward, Simp. Cobler, 57. They were … better speake plainer English.

717 1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 278. You were best to mark the lower Closier in each course.

718   20.  In clauses measuring time: as ‘he came here Monday was a week,’ i.e., he came here on the Monday a week before Monday last: the phrase became a mere adjective clause, whence arose remarkable constructions, as ‘on the evening of Saturday was sennight before the day fixed’ = on the evening of the Saturday a week earlier than the Saturday before the day fixed. Was is now generally omitted: I was in London Monday (was) three weeks.

719 [1449.  Paston Lett., 68, I. 85. And as God wuld, on Fryday last was, we had a gode wynd.]

720 1678.  Gunpowder-Treas., 11. The Evening of the Saturday was Sennight before the appointed time.

721 1684.  Baxter, Twelve Argts., Post. M, I have been at no Church since August was Twelvemonth.

722 1691.  Lond. Gaz., No. 2657/4. Edward Flower … went from his House about last Christmas was 4 years. Ibid. (1725), No. 6447/4. About two or three Days after Holy Rood Day last was Twelve Month.

723 1859.  Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, 343. Did there come no young woman here … Friday was a fortnight?

724   21.  To be about to: see ABOUT A 11, 12.

725   22.  What one would be at: what one aims at; what one means, wishes, or would have.

726 1705.  Vanbrugh, Confeder., I. i. (1759), II. 13. What wou’d he be at? At her—if she’s at leisure.

727 1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones (1836), I. I. xi. 51. We cannot always discover what the young lady would be at.

728 1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., x. (1857), 58. That is very true but not what I would be at.

729 1848.  Blackw. Mag., LXIV. 373, heading. What would revolutionising Germany be at?

730   23.  To be for: † a. to be ready, prepared, or a match for a person (obs.); b. to be bound for, to be making for a place; c. to be ready to act for, to be on the side of, or in favor of, to advocate; d. to be anxious for, to desire, to want (dial.).

731   a.  1622.  Middleton, etc., Old Law, III. ii. My young boys, I shall be for you.

732 1631.  Massinger, Beleeve as You List, III. iii. His angrie forhead … No matter—I am for him.

733   b.  1630.  Wadsworth, Sp. Pilgr., ii. 6. I was for St. Sebastians, accompanied with one Mr. Pickford.

734 Mod.  ‘Where are you for to-day?’

735   c.  1636.  Healey, Epictetus’ Man., 147. Like unto beasts, they are all for the belly.

736 1692.  Locke, Toleration, ii. Wks. 1727, II. 289. You cannot be … for a free and impartial Examination.

737 1799.  T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), IV. 268. I am for free commerce with all nations.

738 1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., IV. 511. He was for going straight into the harbour of Brest.

739 1878.  Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 219. Scipio … was for delay.

740   24.  Many parts of the verb and its tenses are used substantively, adjectively or adverbially.

741 a. 1679.  T. Goodwin, Wks. (1864), VIII. 231. How slender these hopes … which these it may bes do afford.

742 1739.  Chesterf., Lett., I. xxxv. 115. May be they were drunk.

743 1802.  G. Colman, Br. Grins, Reckoning with Time, iii. List then, old Is-Was-and-To-Be.

744 1819.  Byron, Venice, ii. The everlasting to be which hath been.

745 1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. IV. ii. 189. He goes, as Rabelais did when dying, to seek a great Maybe. Ibid., III. I. iv. 36. There is a need-be for removing.

746 1848.  Clough, Bothie, III. 159. He to the great might-have-been upsoaring … He to the merest it-was restricting, diminishing.

747 1852.  Tupper, Prov. Philos., 173. This would-be god Thinketh to make mind.

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