bedrive
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English bidriven, from Old English bedrīfan (“to drive; beat; strike; assail; follow up; pursue; surround; cover”), from Proto-West Germanic *bidrīban, equivalent to be- + drive. Cognate with Dutch bedrijven (“to commit, perpetrate”), German betreiben (“to operate, conduct, pursue”), Swedish bedriva (“to manage, carry on, prosecute”).
Verb
editbedrive (third-person singular simple present bedrives, present participle bedriving, simple past bedrove, past participle bedriven)
- (transitive) To drive or toss about; drive out, off, back, or away; defeat.
- 1852, Alfred (King of England), The whole works of King Alfred the Great:
- But when every human help ceased, that they might trust more to divine help, they then first began to fight against their foes, who for many years before harried and plundered on them, and they then made a great slaughter among them, and bedrove them home, and had a victory.
- (transitive) To effect; do; commit; perpetrate; experience.
- 1889, Henry Morley, Early prose romances:
- And every man that standeth here would well bethink him what he hath done and bedriven in his days, he should the better have patience and pity on Reynart.
Related terms
editDanish
editEtymology
editFrom be- (“on”) + drive (“to drive”), calque of Middle Low German bedrîven and German betreiben. Compare also Swedish bedriva, English bedrive, Dutch bedrijven.
Pronunciation
editVerb
editbedrive (past tense bedrev, past participle bedrevet, attributive common bedreven, attributive definite and plural bedrevne)
- (transitive) to do, engage in (e.g. research, politics)
- (transitive) to commit (an immoral act)
Conjugation
editDerived terms
editReferences
edit- “bedrive” in Den Danske Ordbog
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms prefixed with be-
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English 2-syllable words
- Danish terms prefixed with be-
- Danish terms calqued from Middle Low German
- Danish terms derived from Middle Low German
- Danish terms calqued from German
- Danish terms derived from German
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish lemmas
- Danish verbs
- Danish transitive verbs