beme
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle English beme, from Old English bēme, bȳme, bīeme (“wooden trumpet; tablet, billet”), from Proto-West Germanic *baumijā (“wooden instrument or utensil”), from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, lumber, beam, wood”). Related to beam.
Noun
beme (plural bemes)
- (historical) A mediaeval trumpet, usually used in hunting or warfare.
- 1789, Thomas Chatterton, William Barrett's History of Bristol, page 641:
- Heart of lion! sound the beme!
Sound it into inner lands; […]
- 2008, Suzanne Lord, Music in the Middle Ages:
- One of the long, curved horns was known as a beme and shows up as the instrument of choice blown by angels announcing the Biblical Day of Judgment.
- 2014, Sir Thomas Malory, Maureen Okun, Joseph Black, Le Morte Darthur, page 302:
- And when the host on both parties saw that sword drawn, then they blew bemes, trumpets, and horns, and shouted grimly, and so both hosts dressed them together.
- 2014, Jeremy Montagu, Horns and Trumpets of the World, page 94:
- […] be inserted directly into each other to make the long, straight beme or trompe.
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Anagrams
- Beem
Middle English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old English bēme, Anglian form of bīeme, bȳme (“trumpet; tablet, billet”), from Proto-West Germanic *baumijā; compare beem.
Alternative forms
- beeme
- (early) beame, beome, beume, bume
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbeːm(ə)/
Noun
beme (plural bemes or bemen)
- A trumpet (musical instrument)
- A hunting horn or warhorn.
Related terms
- bemen
- bemere
Descendants
- → English: beme
References
- “bẹ̄me, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Noun
beme
- Alternative form of beem