The story
- Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*biklaiþijan
- Old English · inherited from*beclǣþan
- Middle English · inherited from*beclothen
- 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.