beast English · revision 6910

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200|origins=la bēstia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /biːst/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English beste, [[bor|fro|beste|t=animal, wild beast; fool]] (modern French bête),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) from Vulgar Latin [[m|la-vul|*besta]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[la|bēstia|t=beast, wild animal]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a word of unknown or uncertain origin;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) MWU suggests a link with [[lt|dvasas|t=spirit, breath]].^(MWU 2024) The older Middle English spelling survives in [[bestial]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Probably before 1200 in the ''Ancrene Riwle'', in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) about 1200 in Etymonline, one of the lower animals as opposed to man, especially a four-footed one, and also a marvellous creature or monster, such as the beast of the Apocalypse.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English beast translated Latin animal and displaced Old English [[m|ang|dēor]] (see [[deer]]) as the general word for a wild creature, only to be ousted itself by [[animal]] in the 16th century.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) At first it could include man, but was later restricted to the lower animals.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989) A quadruped as distinct from birds and fish is from about 1230,^(OED 1989) an animal of the chase from 1297,^(OED 1989) and cattle, now chiefly a bullock or cow, from about 1230.^(OED 1989) A brutish or stupid person is in Middle English,^(Etymonline) and the animal nature in man, ''the beast in us'', is from 1667, in Milton.^(OED 1989) [[beastly|alt=Beastly]] is probably from about 1200.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to make a beast of, is rare, from 1646.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – an animal, in the ''Ancrene Riwle''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1230 – a quadruped; cattle.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1297 – a beast of the chase.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1646 – the verb.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1667 – man's animal nature.^(OED 1989)

+ * 16th century – displaced by animal.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An animal other than a human, especially a large four-footed [[mammal]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A large domestic animal, such as a horse or a head of [[cattle]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The animal side of human nature, as opposed to [[intellect]] or spirit.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A cruel, coarse or contemptible person.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[beastlike]]

+ * [[beastie]]

+ * [[beastly]]

+ * [[beast fable]]

+ * [[king of beasts]]

+ * [[mark of the beast]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bestial]]

+ * [[bestiality]]

+ * [[bestiary]]

+ * [[hartebeest]]

+ * [[wildebeest]]

+ * [[deer]]

+ * [[animal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}