bespeak

[bih-speek]

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verb (used with object), be·spoke or (Archaic) be·spake; be·spo·ken or be·spoke; be·speak·ing.

to ask for in advance: to bespeak the reader's patience.

to reserve beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for: to bespeak a seat in a theater.

Literary. to speak to; address.

to show; indicate: This bespeaks a kindly heart.

Obsolete. to foretell; forebode.

Origin of bespeak

before 900; Middle English bespeken, Old English besprecan. See be-, speak

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bespeak

imply, attest, exclaim, engage, show, hint, request, stipulate, discuss, speak, accost, foretell, argue, address, ask, announce, reserve, cite, arrange

Examples from the Web for bespeak

Historical Examples of bespeak

As he said this, he held up his hand to bespeak Martin's attention.
Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit
Charles Dickens
Was there one, even one, whose counsel he could ask, or whose assistance he could bespeak?
One Of Them
Charles James Lever
I hate to tell you, but as I wish to bespeak your kind offices, I must do so.
The Strange Adventures of Mr. Middleton
Wardon Allan Curtis
The reply of Ossaroo did not bespeak any very sanguine hope on his part.
The Cliff Climbers
Captain Mayne Reid
The colour of his skin, with the moustache, bespeak him a white man, and not an Indian.
The Lone Ranche
Captain Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for bespeak

bespeak

verb -speaks, -speaking, -spoke, -spoken or -spoke (tr)

to engage, request, or ask for in advance

to indicate or suggestthis act bespeaks kindness

poetic to speak to; address

archaic to foretell

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bespeak

Old English besprecan "speak about, speak against, complain," from be- + sprecan "to speak" (see speak). A common Germanic compound (cf. Old Saxon bisprecan, Dutch bespreken, Old High German bisprehhan, German besprechen); originally "to call out," it evolved a wide range of meaning in English, including "speak up," "oppose," "request," "discuss, "arrange," and "to order (goods)" (1580s).

The connection of the senses is very loose; some of them appear to have arisen quite independently of each other from different applications of BE- pref. [OED]