beg

Pronunciation

• IPA: /beɡ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English beggen, a word of uncertain origin.^[2][3] It may be from the rare Old English bedecian, to beg, from the Germanic base of bid (compare Gothic bidagwa, a beggar),^[2][4][5][6] or from Anglo-Norman begger, a back-formation from Old French begart (see beggar), ultimately from Beguine, which the OED considers the most likely source.^[2] Barnhart thinks it probably related to or formed from beggar, and notes that Anglo-Norman begger is recorded later than the English verb.^[3] The Old English word for beg was wædlian, from wædl, poverty.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To ask alms, especially habitually as a way of life: about 1200, probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

To ask earnestly or humbly for something is from 1340,^[7] and to beg to do something, as in I beg to differ, from 1576.^[7] Of dogs, sitting up to ask, it is by 1762.^[2] To beg the question (1580s) translates Latin petitio principii, to assume as a basis of argument what has not been proved;^[2] it is also used to mean to evade an issue, or to raise a question.^[8][9] To beg off, to get released by entreaty, is from 1741.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – to ask alms.^[2]
• 1340 – to ask earnestly.^[7]
• 1576 – to beg to do something.^[7]
• 1580s – beg the question.^[2]
• 1741 – beg off.^[2]
• 1762 – of a dog.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To ask for money or food as charity.
2. To ask earnestly or humbly; to entreat.
3. Of a dog, to sit up with forepaws raised.
4. To evade, or to take for granted without proof, as in beg the question.

Word family

• unbegged
• outbeg
• beg off

Related words

• beggar
• bid
• Beguine

Usage notes

Beg, a Turkish title, is a different word, the same as bey.^[10][5] In the strict logical sense, to beg the question is to assume what is to be proved; its use for to raise a question is newer.^[2][9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press