Etymology

beclothe

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Today it means: To clothe about; put clothes on someone or something; wrap or cover in clothing. Full definition →

Middle English *beclothen ← Old English *beclǣþan ← Proto-West Germanic *biklaiþijan
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*biklaiþijan
  2. Old English · inherited from*beclǣþan
  3. Middle English · inherited from*beclothen
  4. English todaybeclothe

From be- + clothe, perhaps continuing Middle English *beclothen, *beclathen, *beclethen (suggested by Middle English bycladde (“dressed, clad”)), from Old English *beclǣþan, *beclāþian (“to put on clothing, clothe about”), from Proto-West Germanic *biklaiþijan, *biklaiþōn (“to clothe about”). Compare Saterland Frisian bekloodje (“to beclothe”), West Frisian beklaaie (“to beclothe”), Dutch bekleden (“to beclothe”), German Low German bekleden (“to beclothe”), German bekleiden (“to beclothe”), Danish beklæde (“to beclothe”), Swedish bekläda (“to beclothe”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.