betide

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*deh₂-“to divide, share”
2. Old English · inherited fromtīdan“to befall, betide, happen”
3. Middle English · inherited frombitiden
4. English todaybetide

From Middle English bitiden [and other forms]; from bi- (prefix forming verbs, usually with a completive, figurative, or intensive sense) + tyden (“to come about, happen, occur; to befall, become of, happen to (someone); to be the fate of (someone); to await (someone); to fare, get along”); tyden is derived from Old English tīdan (“to befall, betide, happen”), related to tīd (“time; season; hour”) (both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- (“to divide, share”) or its extended form *deh₂-y-, whence *dh₂ítis (“time”)) + -an (suffix forming the infinitive of most verbs). The English word is analysable as be- + tide (“(obsolete) to happen, occur”).

Words from the same roots