Etymology

bestride

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Today it means: To be astride something, to stand over or sit on with legs on either side, especially to sit on a horse. Full definition →

Middle English bestriden ← Old English bestrīdan ← Proto-West Germanic *bistrīdan
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*bistrīdan
  2. Old English · inherited frombestrīdan
  3. Middle English · inherited frombestriden
  4. English todaybestride

From Middle English bestriden, from Old English bestrīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *bistrīdan; equivalent to be- + stride. Compare Dutch bestrijden, German bestreiten.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.