beteem

B3E1T1E1E1M3

verb

To permit; allow; suffer.

OriginEnglish teem ← Middle English bi- ← Old English be- →
Scrabble 10
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Meanings

beteem1

verbbeteem (third-person singular simple present beteems, present participle beteeming, simple past and past participle beteemed)

present singular third person beteems · participle present beteeming · participle past beteemed · past beteemed

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo permit; allow; suffer.

    So excellent a king, that was to this / Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother / That he might not beteem the winds of heaven / Visit her face too roughly.

    c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], lines 139-143
  2. obsoletetransitiveTo grant, vouchsafe (something to someone); accord; give.

    So would I (said th'enchaunter) glad and faine / Beteeme to you this sword, you to defend [...].

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  3. dialectaltransitiveTo bestow; afford; allow; deign.

beteem2

verbbeteem (third-person singular simple present beteems, present participle beteeming, simple past and past participle beteemed)

present singular third person beteems · participle present beteeming · participle past beteemed · past beteemed

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo bring forth; produce; shed.

beteem3

verbbeteem (third-person singular simple present beteems, present participle beteeming, simple past and past participle beteemed)

present singular third person beteems · participle present beteeming · participle past beteemed · past beteemed

  1. raretransitiveTo pour all about.

Origin

beteem · verb

From be- + teem (“to befit”). Cognate with Dutch betamen (“to befit, behove, beseem”).

Full word history & related roots →

beteem · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  5. Proto-Germanic*bi
  6. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  7. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  8. Old Englishbe-
  9. Middle Englishbi-
  10. Englishbe-
  11. Englishteem
  12. Englishbeteem

From be- + teem (“to produce”).

Full word history & related roots →

beteem · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
  5. Proto-Germanic*bi
  6. Proto-Germanic*bi-
  7. Proto-West Germanic*bi-
  8. Old Englishbe-
  9. Middle Englishbi-
  10. Englishbe-
  11. Englishteem
  12. Englishbeteem

From be- + teem (“to empty, pour”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

bemeetbemete
Cite this entry
APA

beteem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beteem

MLA

“beteem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beteem. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beteem,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beteem.

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