be-
prefixAU, CA, US, NZ, UK /bə/ · /bɪ/
Etymology From Middle English be-, bi-, from Old English be- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, by”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at, near”). See by, by-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bi- (“be-”), West Frisian be- (“be-”), Dutch be- (“be-”), German Low German be- (“be-”), German be- (“be-”), Danish be- (“be-”), Swedish be- (“be-”).
9 senses
- 1By, near, next to, around, close to.
- 2Around; about.
- 3About, regarding, concerning, over.
- 4On, upon, at, to, in contact with something.
- 5Off, away, over, across
- 6As an intensifier; i.e. thoroughly, excessively…
- 7All around; about; abundantly; all over.
- 8Forming verbs derived from nouns or adjectives, usually…
- 9Used to intensify adjectives meaning "adorned with…
- bewrite, betalk, betell, belie, bemoan, bemourn, bewail, beknow, besing, bespeak
- beclothe, becall, besee, behold, befall, bedo, beshine, besmile, betone
- becut, bedeal, betake, bego, behead, belimb, benim, bereave, besleeve, betrunk
- bebreak, begladden, belabour, belove, behate, besmirch, bedazzle, besiege, befuddle
- belave, belick, bescatter, bekiss
8
Idiomatic, Morpheme, Rare 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, Informal, Morpheme Used to intensify adjectives meaning "adorned with something", often those with the suffix -ed.
- besequined, befeathered, beclawed, bewebbed, betasseled, beloved
- Similarly, one could argue that if these be-tattooed yogic folk were really so spiritual, they wouldn't feel the need to inform everyone else of this or remind themselves of it, via the medium of the tattoo.2010 October 17, Hadley Freeman, “Tattoos: what makes one spiritual and another Katona-esque?”, in The Guardian: