Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *biwarjan. Cognate with Old High German biwerien. Equivalent to be- +‎ werian.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /beˈwer.jɑn/, [beˈwerˠ.jɑn]

Verb

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bewerian

  1. to defend
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "Palm Sunday: On the Lord's Passion"
      Swā fela þūsenda engla meahton ēaðe bewerian Crist wiþ þām unmannum, mid heofonlīcum wǣpnum, ġif hē þrōwian nolde selfwilles for ūs.
      That many thousands of angels could have easily defended Christ against those brutes [the men who came to arrest Jesus], with weapons from heaven, if he didn't want to suffer voluntarily for us.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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