Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
That which besets, surrounds, compasses, or affects; situation; circumstance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To go about; encompass; surround; beset, surround with hostile intent; to overrun.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To clothe, dress.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To affect, usually as a good or bad influence, or as a circumstance.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: obsolete except in set phrases
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To go away, to disappear.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
From Middle English begon, from Old English begān (“to go over, traverse, get to, come by, fall into, go to, visit, care for, cultivate, inhabit, occupy, surround, beset, overrun, practice, do, engage in, perform, attend to, be diligent about, honor, serve, worship, profess”), from Proto-Germanic *bi + *gāną, corresponding to be- + go. Cognate with Dutch begaan, German begehen, Danish begå.
Back-formation from begone, originally an imperative but now an interjection, construed as a past participle.
