Etymology

beleave

be·leave
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Today it means: To leave behind, abandon. Full definition →

Middle English beleven ← Old English belǣfan ← Proto-Germanic *bilaibijaną
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*bilaibijaną
  2. Old English · inherited frombelǣfan“to leave, let remain”
  3. Middle English · inherited frombeleven
  4. English todaybeleave

From Middle English beleven, from Old English belǣfan (“to leave, let remain”), from Proto-Germanic *bilaibijaną. Equivalent to be- + leave. Intransitive use may be influenced by related belive (“to remain”), which see.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishbeleven all →

believe

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.