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beg

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "beg"

Translingual

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Etymology

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Abbreviation of English Belait/Lemeting.

Symbol

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beg

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Belait.

See also

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English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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    Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived from Proto-West Germanic *bedu (“plea, petition, prayer”, whence English bead). Alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *bedagō (“petitioner, requester, beggar”), an agent noun from the same source. Compare North Frisian bēdagi (“to pray”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”). All ultimately from the root of English bid, which see for more. An alternative theory considers the verb a backformation from beggar and derives the latter from Old French begart (“kind of lay brother”).

    Verb

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    beg (third-person singular simple present begs, present participle begging, simple past and past participle begged)

    1. (intransitive) To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
      He begged on the street corner from passers-by.
    2. (transitive) To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
      Synonym: supplicate
      I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.
      He begged her to go to the prom with him.
    3. (transitive) To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
      The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.
      • 2023 December 18, “Galactus VS Unicron (Marvel Comics VS Transformers)” (14:46 from the start), in DEATH BATTLE!‎[1], season 10, episode 16, spoken by Galactus (Wolf Williams):
        Madness! So quick to beg for oblivion's embrace.
    4. (transitive or intransitive) To obviously lack or be in need of something.
      A captivating novel that just begs for a movie adaptation
      • 1985 April 13, Philip Brasfield, “Echoes Inside of What's Outside”, in Gay Community News, page 4:
        The colors in this cell are as dull as its architects must have been. An endless expanse of drab-green textured walls, contrasting with the gray concrete floor. It begs redecoration.
    5. (transitive) In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
    6. (transitive, proscribed) In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
      Antonym: set aside
    7. (transitive, law, obsolete) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
      • a. 1612, John Harington, Epigrams:
        Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.
    Usage notes
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    This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

    Synonyms
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    Derived terms
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    Translations
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    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Noun

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    beg (plural begs)

    1. The act of begging; an imploring request.
      • 2008, Cathy Gohlke, William Henry is a Fine Name/I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires Set:
        “Lord,” I prayed, “it's a long time since I came to You for anything besides a quick beg for help. And it seems every time I come to You I'm asking something bigger, more impossible. But I'm here again. […]
    2. (UK, slang, derogatory) A pretentious, attention-seeking, or eccentric person.
      • 2026 April 13, Catherine Carr, "The surprising reality of how teenage girls still define themselves" [2] (BBC News)
        Girls told me about not wanting to be seen by boys as "too much", "too loud", "weird", "annoying", a "pick me", or "a beg" (someone looking for attention). They told me how boys can be loud and funny, but that girls had better not.
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    Etymology 2

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      Borrowed from Proto-Turkic *bēg.

      Noun

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      beg (plural begs)

      2. (history) Alternative form of bey.
        Yaqub Beg (c. 1820 – 1877)
      Translations
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      Etymology 3

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      Noun

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      beg

      1. (knitting) Abbreviation of beginning.
        • 2005, DRG Dynamic Resource, Big Book of Knit Hats & Scarves for Everyone, House of White Birches, page 34:
          Knit with MC until work measures 3 inches from beg.

      Further reading

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      Anagrams

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      Albanian

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      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      beg (plural begj or beglerë, definite begu)

      1. alternative form of bej

      References

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      • “beg,~u”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎[3], 1980, page 121a
      • Bufli, G.; Rocchi, L. (2021), “bej”, in A historical-etymological dictionary of Turkisms in Albanian (1555–1954), Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste, page 73
      • Mann, S. E. (1948), “beg”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 24b
      • Meyer, G. (1891), “bek-gu”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 31

      Danish

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      Pronunciation

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      Etymology 1

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      From Old Danish bik, pik, borrowed from Middle Low German pik, from Old Saxon pik, from Proto-West Germanic *pik, borrowed from Latin pix. Cognate with Swedish beck, English pitch, German Pech.

      Noun

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      beg n (singular definite beget, not used in plural form)

      1. pitch
      Declension
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      Declension of beg
      neuter
      gender       		singular
      indefinite definite
      nominative beg beget
      genitive begs begets
      Derived terms
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      References
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      Etymology 2

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      See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

      Verb

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      beg

      1. imperative of bege

      Dutch

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك (beg).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      beg m (plural begs, no diminutive)

      1. (historical) alternative form of bei

      Iban

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from English bag.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      beg

      1. bag

      Malay

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from English bag.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      beg (Jawi spelling بيݢ, plural beg-beg)

      1. A bag.
        Beg sekolah saya berat.
        My school bag is heavy.

      Compounds

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      Further reading

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      • "beg" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
        (also see "beg" at PRPM first version)

      Manx

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      Etymology

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      Inherited from Old Irish bec[1] from Proto-Celtic *biggos (“small”). Cognate with Irish beag, Scottish Gaelic beag and also Breton bihan, Welsh bach, bychan and Cornish byghan.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      beg (plural beggey, comparative sloo)

      1. small, little
        Synonyms: fardalagh (“insignificant”), goan (“scarce”), myn (“fine”), giare (“short, brief”), keyl (“slender”)
        Ta quallian beg noa ec ny naboonyn.
        The neighbours have a small new puppy.
        Cha ren mee faikin ee agh son tammylt beg.
        I only saw her for a little bit.

      Derived terms

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      Mutation

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      Mutation of beg
      radical lenition eclipsis
      beg veg meg

      Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Manx.
      All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

      References

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      1. ^ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bec”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

      Serbo-Croatian

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      Alternative forms

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      Pronunciation

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      Etymology 1

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      From Proto-Slavic *běgъ.

      Noun

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      bȇg m inan (Cyrillic spelling бе̑г) (Ekavian)

      1. escape
      Declension
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      Declension of beg
      singular plural
      nominative bȇg bȅgovi
      genitive bȇga begóvā
      dative bȇgu begòvima
      accusative bȇg bȅgove
      vocative bȇže bȅgovi
      locative bégu begòvima
      instrumental bȇgom begòvima
      Derived terms
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      Etymology 2

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      Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك (bey).

      Noun

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      bȅg m anim (Cyrillic spelling бе̏г)

      1. (historical) bey
      Declension
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      Declension of beg
      singular plural
      nominative bȅg bègovi / bȅzi
      genitive bȅga bȅgōvā / bȇgā
      dative bȅgu bègovima / bȅzima
      accusative bȅga bègove / bȅge
      vocative bȅže bègovi / bȅzi
      locative bȅgu bègovima / bȅzima
      instrumental bȅgom bègovima / bȅzima

      Further reading

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      • “beg”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

      Slovene

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      Etymology 1

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      From Proto-Slavic *běgъ.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      bẹ̑g m inan

      1. run
      2. getaway
      3. escape
      4. withdrawal
      5. (phrase) flight
        Planiti v beg ― To take flight
      Declension
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      Unknown tone or non-tonal
      		 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
      Masculine inan., hard o-stem
      nom. sing. bég
      gen. sing. béga
      singular dual plural
      nominative
      (imenovȃlnik)       		bég béga bégi
      genitive
      (rodȋlnik)       		béga bégov bégov
      dative
      (dajȃlnik)       		bégu bégoma bégom
      accusative
      (tožȋlnik)       		bég béga bége
      locative
      (mẹ̑stnik)       		bégu bégih bégih
      instrumental
      (orọ̑dnik)       		bégom bégoma bégi

      Etymology 2

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      From Turkish bey. First attested in the 19th century.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      bẹ̑g m anim

      1. bey (Turkish governor)
      Declension
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      Unknown tone or non-tonal
      		 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
      Masculine anim., hard o-stem
      nom. sing. bég
      gen. sing. béga
      singular dual plural
      nominative
      (imenovȃlnik)       		bég béga bégi
      genitive
      (rodȋlnik)       		béga bégov bégov
      dative
      (dajȃlnik)       		bégu bégoma bégom
      accusative
      (tožȋlnik)       		béga béga bége
      locative
      (mẹ̑stnik)       		bégu bégih bégih
      instrumental
      (orọ̑dnik)       		bégom bégoma bégi

      Further reading

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      • “beg”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2026

      Turkmen

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      Other scripts
      Latin beg
      Cyrillic бег
      Arabic بگ

      Etymology

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      Inherited from Proto-Turkic *bēg. Doublet of biý (“sage”).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      beg (definite accusative begi, plural begler)

      1. (historical) bey, bek (a noble or military title)
        • 18th century, Makhdumquli Firaghi, “Şalar galmazlar [Kings will not endure]”, in Magtymguly Pyragynyň Diwany [The Diwan of Makhdumquli Firaghi]‎[4], volume 1, archived from the original on 19 April 2026, pages 121–122, lines 1–4:
          غم چکمه غریب آدم
          شاه‌لار بک‌لار قالمزلار
          عظیم‌عظیم شهرلار
          آق اوتاغلار قالمزلار
          Gam çekme, garyp adam,
          Şalar-begler galmazlar.
          Azym-azym şäherler,
          Ak otaglar galmazlar.
          Do not grieve, poor man,
          The kings and nobles will not endure.
          The most magnificent of cities,
          The white palaces will not endure.
      2. (archaic) hero, paladin

      Declension

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      Declension of beg
      singular plural
      nominative beg begler
      accusative begi begleri
      genitive begiň begleriň
      dative bege beglere
      locative begde beglerde
      ablative begden beglerden

      Derived terms

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      Further reading

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      • “beg”, in Türkmen Diliniň Düşündirişli Sözlügi [Explanatory Dictionary of the Turkmen Language]‎[5] (in Turkmen), volume 1, Ashgabat: Ylym Neşirýaty, 2016, page 131

      Volapük

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from English beg.

      Noun

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      beg (genitive bega, plural begs)

      1. request, an action of begging

      Declension

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      Declension of beg
      Singular Plural
      Nominative beg begs
      Genitive bega begas
      Dative bege beges
      Accusative begi begis
      Predicative1 begu begus
      Vocative o beg o begs
      1. Introduced in Volapük Nulik.

      Zhuang

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      Etymology

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      From Chinese 白 (MC baek).

      Pronunciation

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      Adjective

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      beg (Sawndip form 白, 1957–1982 spelling beg)

      1. (bound) white

      Adverb

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      beg (Sawndip form 白, 1957–1982 spelling beg)

      1. in vain; for nothing
      2. for free; free of charge
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=beg&oldid=95084159"