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. Ægloga Vndecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, 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 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act I:

     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, [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, 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, [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, [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 December 24 (indicated as 1765), Onuphrio Muralto, translated by William Marshal [pseudonyms; Horace Walpole], chapter III, in The Castle of Otranto, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Lownds […], →OCLC, pages 107–108:

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

     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

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

Conjugation of betide

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• woe betide

Translations

(transitive) to happen to (someone or something)

Bulgarian: сполитам (bg) (spolitam) Czech: stát se (cs) pf, přihodit se pf German: beschieden sein, ereilen (de), zuteilwerden (de) Hungarian: történik (hu) (+ instrumental (-val/-vel)) Russian: случи́ться (ru) (slučítʹsja) Yola: beteede

(intransitive) to happen; to take place — see also bechance,‎ befall

Arabic: نَهَرَ (ar) (nahara) Bulgarian: случвам се (slučvam se) Czech: stát se (cs) pf, přihodit se pf Hungarian: történik (hu) 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: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “betide, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• debite