beseemv.
/bɪˈsiːm/ a. intransitive. To seem, appear, look. (Almost always in 3rd person.) Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > have (specific) appearance [verb (intransitive)] > seem
thinkeOE
beseem?c1225
semblec1325
show1340
supposea1393
appeara1425
resemble?a1425
think1425
seem1570
'pear1851
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 118 Moyses hond..bisemde on þe spitel uuel.
1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Prol. 152 He telles..Alle þer lymmes how þai besemed.
1470–85 T. Malory (1816) I. 191 Sir, thou beseemest well.
1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. I.ii v She sittes..in a goodly scarlett brauely beseeming.
1779 W. Mason Eng. Garden xiv. (R.) His manly form, His virtues..beseem'd no sentiment to wake Warmer than gratitude.
b. impersonal with dative object or to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > have specific appearance [verb (impersonal)] > seem
thinkeOE
it seemsa1225
meseems?a1425
it seems1442
beseem1470
it should seem1525
it would seem1826
seems to me1888
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur (1816) I. 361 Him beseemeth well of person, and of countenance, that he shall prove a good man.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy vii. 2886 Paris was pure faire..full stithe hym besemyt.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. i. 3 Sith so deepe Wisedome and Omnipotence, Nought worse beseemes, then sloath and negligence.
2. To suit in appearance; to become, befit, be in accordance with the appearance or character of. With dative object (rarely to).
a. originally with well, ill, or other qualification: literal. To appear or look well, etc., for a person to wear, to have, to do, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > not to suit [verb (transitive)]
beseema1225
missuita1618
unbecome1628
a1225 Juliana 55 Wel bisemeð þe..to beo streon of a swuch strunde.
1393 J. Gower I. 110 As though it shulde him well beseme That he all other men can deme.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vi. vi. 193 Semely clothynge bysemyth to them well that ben chaste damoysels.
c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 309 A poynt of sorquydryȝe þat vche god mon may euel byseme.
a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. Bv A prison may best beseem his holiness.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vi. 137 A duty well beseeming the Preachers of the Gospel.
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. i. ii. 34 It would ill beseem you, so young and so comely, to go further.
b. Hence, without qualification, in the sense of ‘well beseem’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > suit or be suitable for [verb (transitive)] > be fitting or proper for
riseeOE
i-riseOE
seemc1175
becomea1230
i-semec1275
comec1325
beseema1425
besitc1449
befitc1460
betidea1555
beset1567
due?1606
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Prov. xvii. 7 Wordis wel set togidere bisemen not a fool.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 126 Euerlastynge holynesse bysymeth lorde thy howse.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. C3v Sad pause, and deepe regard beseemes the sage. View more context for this quotation
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iii. xi. 127 Being more prodigall of his person then beseemed a Generall.
1729 T. Cooke Tales 45 Her Mind beseem'd her Angel's Face.
1837 N. Hawthorne Twice-told Tales (1851) II. i. 12 I have already laughed more than beseems my cloth.
1884 R. Browning Ferishtah's Fancies (ed. 3) 61 Man acts as man must; God, as God beseems.
3. absol. To be seemly, to be becoming or fitting, to be meet: originally with qualification as in 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > be suitable, appropriate, or suit [verb (intransitive)] > be fitting or proper
i-burec1000
shallc1000
belongOE
becomec1175
fallc1175
beliea1225
ferea1300
longc1350
beseemc1384
pertainc1384
it is worthy thata1398
accordc1400
foldc1400
affeir1415
fit1574
suit?1591
sort1595
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. i. 28 Tho thingis that acoorden not, or bysemen not.
1388 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) Heb. vii. 26 It bisemyde that sich a man were a bischop to us.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 8734 Say me what wol best biseme.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 552 The receyuers wolden expende thilk good vertuoseli and holili, and not other wise than it bisemed.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i.viii. sig. H2 His reuerend heares..The knight much honord, as beseemed well.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 335 To treat thee as beseems . View more context for this quotation
1871 F. T. Palgrave Lyrical Poems 44 Silence beseemeth most.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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