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beg

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Pronunciation

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
  • 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