befly

B3E1F4L1Y4

verb

To fly about; fly from; shun; escape.

OriginMiddle English biflien ← Old English beflēogan →
Scrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbbefly (third-person singular simple present beflies, present participle beflying, simple past beflew, past participle beflown)

present singular third person beflies · participle present beflying · past beflew · participle past beflown

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo fly about; fly from; shun; escape.

Origin

  1. Old Englishbeflēogan“to fly upon”
  2. Middle Englishbiflien
  3. Englishbefly

From Middle English biflien, from Old English beflēogan (“to fly upon”), equivalent be- + fly. Cognate with Dutch bevliegen, German befliegen (“to fly on”), Danish beflyve (“to operate”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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