英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

befoul (v.)[befoul 词源字典]: early 14c., from be- + foul (v.). Related: Befouled; befouling.[befoul etymology, befoul origin, 英语词源]
befriend (v.): 1550s, from be- + friend (n.). Related: Befriended; befriending.
befuddle (v.): "confuse," 1873, from be- + fuddle; originally "to confuse with strong drink or opium" (by 1832). An earlier word in the same sense was begunk (1725). Related: Befuddled; befuddling.
beg (v.): c. 1200, perhaps from Old English bedecian "to beg," from Proto-Germanic *beth-; or possibly from Anglo-French begger, from Old French begart (see beggar). The Old English word for "beg" was wædlian, from wædl "poverty." Of trained dogs, 1816.

As a courteous mode of asking (beg pardon, etc.), first attested c. 1600. To beg the question translates Latin petitio principii, and means "to assume something that hasn't been proven as a basis of one's argument," thus "asking" one's opponent to give something unearned, though more of the nature of taking it for granted without warrant.
began (v.): past tense of begin.
begat (v.): archaic past tense of beget.
beget (v.): Old English begietan "to get by effort, find, acquire, attain, seize" (class V strong verb, past tense begeat, past participle begeaton), from be- + get (v.). Sense of "to procreate" is from c. 1200. Related to Old High German pigezzan, Gothic bigitan "to get, obtain." Related: Begot; begotten.
begetter (n.): mid-15c., agent noun from beget.
beggar (n.): c. 1200, from Old French begart, originally a member of the Beghards, lay brothers of mendicants in the Low Countries, from Middle Dutch beggaert "mendicant," of uncertain origin, with pejorative suffix (see -ard). Compare Beguine. Early folk etymology connected the English word with bag. Form with -ar attested from 14c., but begger was more usual 15c.-17c. The feminine form beggestere is attested as a surname from c. 1300. Beggar's velvet was an old name for "dust bunnies." "Beggers should be no choosers" is in Heywood (1562).
beggar (v.): "reduce to poverty," mid-15c., from beggar (n.). Related: Beggared; beggaring. Figurative use by 1640s.
beggarly (adj.): 1520s, from beggar (n.) + -ly (1).
beggary (n.): late 14c.; see beg + -ary.
begin (v.): Old English beginnan "to begin, attempt, undertake," a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from bi- (see be-) + West Germanic *ginnan, of obscure meaning and found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open up" (compare Old High German in-ginnan "to cut open, open up," also "begin, undertake"), with sense evolution from "open" to "begin." Cognates elsewhere in Germanic include Old Frisian biginna "to begin," Middle Dutch beghinnen, Old High German beginnan, German beginnen, Old Frisian bijenna "to begin," Gothic duginnan.
beginner (n.): early 14c., "founder," agent noun from begin. Meaning "novice" is from late 15c. Beginner's luck is from 1897.
beginning (n.): late 12c., "time when something begins," from begin. Meaning "act of starting something" is from early 13c. The Old English word was fruma (see foremost).
begird (v.): Old English begyrdan; see be- + gird (v.).
begone (v.): late 14c., contracted from be (imperative) + gone.
begonia (n.): 1751, from French begonia (1706), named by Plumier for Michel Bégon (1638-1710), French governor of Santo Domingo (Haiti) and patron of botany, + abstract noun ending -ia.
begorra: 1839, antiquated Anglo-Irish form of expletive By God.
begotten (adj.): late 14c., past participle adjective from beget.