Meanings
present singular third person bespeaks · participle present bespeaking · past bespoke · archaic past bespake · participle past bespoken · archaic participle past bespoke
- datedtransitiveTo speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order, commission, reserve or arrange for something to be made in advance.
'[…] I am come here to bespeak Fanny a seal […]'
1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC2 more examples
concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favour
1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLCI walked on into the village, with the desertion of this house upon my mind, and I found the landlord of the little inn, sanding his door-step. I bespoke breakfast, and broached the subject of the house.
1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House - archaicpoetictransitiveTo speak to; address.
Spurring his horse, he galloped down to the shore and bespoke them.
1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 231 more example
Then ſtaring on her with a ghaſtly Look, / And hollow Voice, he thus the Queen beſpoke.
1717, John Dryden, “Book XI. [The House of Sleep.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 401 - transitiveTo betoken; show; indicate; depict; foretell; suggest; allude to.
This act bespeaks his kindness.
5 more examples
When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespake him rather a monster.
1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 3, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLCTurning her looks unconsciously to that part of the assembly where Douglas leaned, engaged in serious contemplation, Ellina chanced to encounter his eye intently fixed upon her; the expression of which bespeaking at once pity and benevolence, her heart, mortified, reproached her for her lightness.
1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XVI, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 228This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking.[…]He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLCAre they telling your story vividly, strikingly, in designs that command attention, in colors that bespeak distinction?
1921, Printers' Ink, volume 114, page 50[...] the drop in speed only from 66 to 53 m.p.h. up the six miles at 1 in 176-200-167 to Saunderton summit bespoke a hard effort, [...]
1961 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 87
plural bespeaks
- archaicA request for a specific performance; a benefit performance, by a patron.
"By the bye, I've been thinking of bringing out that piece of yours on her bespeak night." "When?" asked Nicholas. "The night of her bespeak. Her benefit night. When her friends and patrons bespeak the play." "Oh! I understand," replied Nicholas.
1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo speak about; tell of; relate; discuss.
More synonyms by meaning
verbexpress the need or desire for
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*bisprekaną“to speak about, discuss, blame”
- Proto-West Germanic*bisprekan“to discuss, blame”
- Old English*bespecan
- Middle Englishbespeken
- Englishbespeak
From Middle English bespeken, bispeken, from Old English *bespecan, besprecan (“to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisprekan (“to discuss, blame”), from Proto-Germanic *bisprekaną (“to speak about, discuss, blame”), equivalent to be- + speak. Cognate with Scots bespeke (“to beseech, speak or negotiate with”), Saterland Frisian bispreke (“to discuss”), West Frisian besprekke (“to discuss”), Dutch bespreken (“to discuss, review, debate”), German besprechen (“to discuss, review, talk about”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech svědčit, sjednat si
- svědčit(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
- sjednat si(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- zamluvit si(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- sjednat si(transitive) to stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour
- svědčit(transitive) to betoken; show; indicate; foretell; suggest
Dutch bespreken
- bespreken(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
Esperanto priparoli
- priparoli(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
Finnish puhua, varata
- puhua(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
- varata(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- sopia(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- tilata(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- pyytää(transitive) to stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour
- puhutella(transitive, archaic, poetic) to speak to; address
- kieliä(transitive) to betoken; show; indicate; foretell; suggest
- osoittaa(transitive) to betoken; show; indicate; foretell; suggest
- ilmaista(transitive) to betoken; show; indicate; foretell; suggest
- puhua(intransitive) to speak up or out; exclaim; speak
German besprechen, diskutieren
- besprechen(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
- diskutieren(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
- mitteilen(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
- vorbestellen(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- arrangieren(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- im Voraus reservieren(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- im Voraus buchen(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- bitten um(transitive) to stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour
- erbitten(transitive) to stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour
- anfragen(transitive) to stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour
- vorhersagen(transitive, archaic) to forbode; foretell
- voraussagen(transitive, archaic) to forbode; foretell
Māori taupua
- taupua(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
Norwegian Bokmål forhåndsbestille, anmode om
- forhåndsbestille(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- anmode om(transitive) to stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour
Russian обсужда́ть, бронировать
- обсужда́ть (obsuždátʹ)(transitive) to speak about; tell of; relate; discuss
- бронировать (bronirovatʹ)(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- резерви́ровать (rezervírovatʹ)(transitive) to speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance
- проси́ть (prosítʹ)(transitive) to stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour
- предска́зывать (predskázyvatʹ)(transitive, archaic) to forbode; foretell
- обраща́ться (obraščátʹsja)(transitive, archaic, poetic) to speak to; address
- пока́зывать (pokázyvatʹ)(transitive) to betoken; show; indicate; foretell; suggest
- отража́ть (otražátʹ)(transitive) to betoken; show; indicate; foretell; suggest
- восклица́ть (vosklicátʹ)(intransitive) to speak up or out; exclaim; speak
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with bespeak
Cite this entry
bespeak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bespeak
“bespeak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bespeak. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bespeak,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bespeak.
Source: bespeak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.