noun
Meaning 1
A request.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
beseech
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
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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bĭ-sēchʹ
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/bɪˈsiːt͡ʃ/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -iːtʃ
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CMU ARPABET: B IY0 S IY1 CH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To beg or implore something of (a person).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: formal, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To beg or request for (something).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: formal, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
ask for or request earnestly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The prophet bid all people to become good persons
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bid, entreat, adjure, press, conjure
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: plead
History
Etymology
From Middle English besechen, bisechen, prefixed form of Old English sēċan (“to seek or inquire about”); compare the doublet beseek, from the same dialect that gave seek. Cognate with Saterland Frisian besäike (“to visit”), Dutch bezoeken (“to visit, attend, see”), German besuchen (“to visit, attend, see”), Swedish besöka (“to visit, go to see”). By surface analysis, be- + seech.
Across languages
Translations
55 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: تَوَسَّلَ (tawassala) — to beg
- Arabic: اِلْتَمَسَ (iltamasa) — to beg
- Armenian: աղերսել (aġersel) — to beg
- Bulgarian: умолявам (umoljavam) — to beg
- Bulgarian: прося (prosja) — to beg
- Catalan: pregar — to beg
- Chinese Mandarin: 哀求 (āiqiú) — to beg
- Chinese Mandarin: 懇求 /恳求 (kěnqiú) — to beg
- Czech: doprošovat se — to beg
- Czech: zapřísahat — to beg
- Czech: prosit — to beg
- Danish: bønfalde — to beg
- Dutch: bezweren — to beg
- Dutch: bidden — to beg
- Dutch: smeken — to beg
- Finnish: rukoilla — to beg
- Finnish: anoa — to beg
- French: prier — to beg
- French: implorer — to beg
- French: supplier — to beg
- Galician: rogar — to beg
- Galician: implorar — to beg
- German: anflehen — to beg
- German: ersuchen — to beg
- German: bitten — to beg
- Greek: ικετεύω (iketévo) — to beg
- Ancient Greek: ἱκετέω (hiketéō) — to beg
- Ancient Greek: παρακαλέω (parakaléō) — to beg
- Irish: achair — to beg
- Italian: supplicare — to beg
- Italian: implorare — to beg
- Latin: petō — to beg
- Latin: dēprecor — to beg
- Malayalam: യാചിക്കുക (yācikkuka) — to beg
- Nahuatl: eitloa — to beg
- Norwegian Bokmål: bønnfalle — to beg
- Norwegian Bokmål: trygle — to beg
- Norwegian Bokmål: be — to beg
- Plautdietsch: prachren — to beg
- Polish: błagać — to beg
- Portuguese: rogar — to beg
- Portuguese: implorar — to beg
- Romanian: implora — to beg
- Russian: умоля́ть (umoljátʹ) — to beg
- Serbo-Croatian: preklinjati — to beg
- Slovak: doprosovať sa — to beg
- Spanish: rogar — to beg
- Spanish: implorar — to beg
- Spanish: suplicar — to beg
- Spanish: impetrar — to beg
- Swahili: kuomba — to beg
- Swahili: kusihi — to beg
- Swedish: bönfalla — to beg
- Thai: ขอร้อง (kɔ̌ɔ-rɔ́ɔng) — to beg
- Volapük: bekön — to beg