bespoken

[bih-spohkuh n]

verb

a past participle of bespeak.

adjective

bespoke.

Origin of bespoken

1600–10 for def 2

Related formsun·be·spo·ken, adjectivewell-be·spo·ken, adjective

bespeak

[bih-speek]

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. 2018

Related Words for bespoken

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

Examples from the Web for bespoken

Contemporary Examples of bespoken

“When you're a smaller brand, you have to take advantage of these opportunities,” said Liam Fayed of menswear label Bespoken.
The Future of Fashion Week
Renata Espinosa
September 19, 2009

Historical Examples of bespoken

"You cannot have the new carriage you have bespoken," said his lordship.
Tales And Novels, Volume 3 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
The box was bespoken and the carriage, as soon as they had had their coffee, found to be in attendance.
The Tragic Muse
Henry James
Bartemy and I have bespoken an eel pie and a gallon of humming cider of Normandy.
The Golden Dog
William Kirby
The wall stood there before his eyes, exactly as he had bespoken it!
The Yellow Fairy Book
Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang
I have bespoken a Miscellany: what would you have me do more?
The Journal to Stella
Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for bespoken

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 bespoken

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]