befight

B3E1F4I1G2H4T1

verb

To deprive of by fighting.

OriginMiddle English *befighten, *befeghten ← Old English befeohtan →
Scrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbbefight (third-person singular simple present befights, present participle befighting, simple past and past participle befought)

present singular third person befights · participle present befighting · participle past befought · past befought

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo deprive of by fighting.
  2. dialectalobsoletetransitiveTo fight against; contend; do battle with.

Origin

  1. Old Englishbefeohtan“to take by fighting”
  2. Middle English*befighten, *befeghten
  3. Englishbefight

From Middle English *befighten, *befeghten, from Old English befeohtan (“to take by fighting”), equivalent to be- + fight. Cognate with Dutch bevechten (“to fight, combat”), Middle High German bevehten.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

befight. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befight

MLA

“befight.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befight. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “befight,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/befight.

Source: befight on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.