betide

betide

English

WOTD – 16 July 2021

Etymology

From Middle English bityden [and other forms];[1] from bi- (prefix forming verbs, usually with a completive, figurative, or intensive sense)[2] + tyden (“to come about, happen, occur; to befall, become of, happen to (someone); to be the fate of (someone); to await (someone); to fare, get along”);[3] tyden is derived from Old English tīdan (“to befall, betide, happen”), related to tīd (“time; season; hour”) (both ultimately either from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- (“to divide, share”) or *dī- (“time”)) + -an (suffix forming the infinitive of most verbs).[4] The English word is analysable as be- +‎ tide (“(obsolete) to happen, occur”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈtaɪd/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /bəˈtaɪd/
• Rhymes: -aɪd
• Hyphenation: be‧tide

Verb

betide (third-person singular simple present betides, present participle betiding, simple past and past participle betid or betided) (dated, literary)

1. (transitive) Often used in a prediction (chiefly in woe betide) or a wish: to happen to (someone or something); to befall.
   • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Nouember. Aegloga Vndecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], OCLC 606515406; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, OCLC 890162479, folio 46, verso:

     Why wayle we then? why weary we the Gods with playnts, / As if ſome euill were to her betight? / She raignes a goddeſſe now emong the ſaintes, / That whilome was the ſaynt of ſhepheardes light: / And is enſtalled nowe in heauens hight.

   • c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlo[we], Tho[mas] Heywood, editor, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Ievv of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, OCLC 1121318438, Act I, [scene ii]:

     Why, how now, countrymen!
     Why flock you thus to me in multitudes?
     What accident's betided to the Jews?

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, OCLC 213833262, [Act III, scene ii]:

     More health and happines betide my liege, / Then can my care tunde tongue deliuer him.

   • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, OCLC 270129616, stanza XXV, page 157:

     But woe betide the wandering wight, / That treads its circle in the night.

2. (intransitive) Chiefly in the third person: to happen; to take place; to bechance, to befall.

   Synonyms: (archaic) betime, come to pass, occur, (obsolete) tide, transpire; see also Thesaurus:happen

   • c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, OCLC 55191490, [Act I, scene iii]:

     If he were dead what would betide of me.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii], page 2, column 1:

     [W]ipe thou thine eyes, haue comfort, / The direfull ſpectacle of the wracke which touch'd / The very vertue of compaſſion in thee: / I haue with ſuch prouiſion in mine Art / So ſafely ordered, that there is no ſoule / No not ſo much perdition as an hayre/ Betid to any creature in the veſſel / Which thou heardſt cry, which thou ſaw'ſt ſinke: […]

   • 1764, “Onuphrio Muralto”, chapter III, in William Marshal [pseudonym; Horace Walpole], transl., The Castle of Otranto, […], Dublin: […] J. Hoey, […], published 1765, OCLC 837383313, page 80:

     The death of my ſon betiding while my ſoul was under this anxiety, I thought of nothing but reſigning my dominions, and retiring for ever from the ſight of mankind.

   • 1904, Civilla Durfee Martin (lyrics), Walter Stillman Martin (music), “God Will Take Care of You”:

     Be not dismayed whate'er betide, / God will take care of you; / Beneath his wings of love abide, / God will take care of you.

Conjugation

Conjugation of betide

infinitive	(to) betide
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	betide	betided, betid
2nd-person singular
3rd-person singular	betides
plural	betide
subjunctive	betide	betided, betid
imperative	betide	—
participles	betiding	betided, betid

Derived terms

• woe betide

Translations

(transitive) to happen to (someone or something)

Bulgarian: сполитам (bg) (spolitam) German: beschieden sein, ereilen (de), zuteilwerden (de) Russian: случи́ться (ru) (slučítʹsja) Yola: beteede

(intransitive) to happen; to take place — See also translations at bechance,‎ befall

Arabic: نَهَرَ‎ (ar) (nahara) Bulgarian: случвам се (slučvam se) Norwegian: Bokmål: hende (no), vederfares (no) Russian: случа́ться (ru) (slučátʹsja), происходи́ть (ru) (proisxodítʹ)

References

1. “bitīden, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
2. “bi-, pref.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
3. “tīden, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
4. Compare “betide, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “betide, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• debite