beg

See also: Beg, bég, bèg, beg., bēg, and bəg

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /bɛɡ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /beɪɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɛɡ

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origen. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origen. 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 surce. 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

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.

   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:

     you do beg your good will in this case.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 27:58:

     [Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.

   • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     But that same day came Sam Tewkesbury to the Why Not? about nightfall, and begged a glass of rum, being, as he said, 'all of a shake' [...]

3. (transitive) To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.

   The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.

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

This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• beseech
• entreat
• sue

 

Derived terms

• begathon
• beg button
• beg for mercy
• beg for one's life
• beg for someone's life
• beggable
• beg off
• begpacker
• begpacking
• beg parding
• beg pardon
• beg someone's pardon
• beg the question
• beg to differ
• begware
• beg yours
• bleg
• go begging
• good voice to beg bacon
• I beg your pardon
• outbeg
• sit-up-and-beg
• soft begging
• unbegged

 

Translations

to request the help of someone, often in the form of money

• Afrikaans: bedel (af)
• Arabic: اِسْتَجْدَى (istajdā), سَأَلَ (ar) (saʔala)

  Gulf Arabic: طر (ṭar)

  Hijazi Arabic: شَحَت (šaḥat)

• Armenian: մուրալ (hy) (mural)
• Azerbaijani: dilənmək
• Belarusian: папраша́йнічаць impf (paprašájničacʹ), прасі́ць impf (prasícʹ), жабрава́ць impf (žabravácʹ)
• Bulgarian: про́ся (bg) impf (prósja), изпро́свам (bg) impf (izprósvam), изпро́ся pf (izprósja)
• Catalan: pidolar (ca), mendicar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 央求 (zh) (yāngqiú), 求 (zh) (qiú), (for food or money) 乞討 / 乞讨 (zh) (qǐtǎo)

• Crimean Tatar: yalvarmaq
• Czech: žebrat (cs) impf
• Danish: tigge
• Dutch: bedelen (nl)
• Esperanto: almozpeti
• Ewe: ɖekuku
• Faroese: bidda
• Finnish: kerjätä (fi), pyytää (fi), anella (fi), anoa (fi), kärttää
• French: mendier (fr), quêter (fr), quémander (fr)
• Friulian: cirî
• Galician: pedichar, galloufar, mendicar, aquestar, perdouxer
• Georgian: ხვეწნა (xvec̣na), მუდარა (mudara)
• German: betteln (de)
• Greek: ζητιανεύω (el) (zitianévo), επαιτώ (el) (epaitó)
• Hebrew: ביקש \ בִּקֵּשׁ (bikésh), קיבץ נדבות (kibéts n'davót)
• Hungarian: koldul (hu), kéreget (hu)
• Icelandic: betla
• Indonesian: mengemis (id), minta-minta (id)
• Interlingua: mendicar
• Italian: mendicare (it), elemosinare (it)
• Japanese: 請う (ja) (こう, kou)
• Khmer: សុំទាន (som tiən)
• Latin: mendīcor
• Macedonian: просјачи impf (prosjači)
• Malayalam: യാചിക്കുക (ml) (yācikkuka), തെണ്ടുക (ml) (teṇṭuka)
• Maori: minene, pīnono, pikoni, mīnono
• Middle English: beggen
• North Frisian: beđeri (Sylt)
• Northern Sami: ánuhit, átnut, gearjidit
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tigge (no)

  Nynorsk: tigga

• Occitan: mendicar (oc)
• Old English: biddan
• Polish: żebrać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: mendigar (pt)
• Romanian: cerși (ro)
• Russian: проси́ть (ru) impf (prosítʹ), попроси́ть (ru) pf (poprosítʹ), попроша́йничать (ru) impf (poprošájničatʹ) (of a beggar), побира́ться (ru) impf (pobirátʹsja), выпра́шивать (ru) impf (vyprášivatʹ), кля́нчить (ru) impf (kljánčitʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: про̀сити impf, просја́чити impf

  Roman: pròsiti (sh) impf, prosjáčiti (sh) impf

• Slovak: žobrať impf
• Slovene: beračiti impf, prosjačiti impf
• Spanish: mendigar (es), pordiosear (es)
• Swedish: tigga (sv)
• Tagalog: magpalimos
• Tamil: கெஞ்சு (ta) (keñcu)
• Tatar: соранырга (soranırga), теләнеп сорау (telänep soraw)
• Telugu: యాచించు (te) (yāciñcu)
• Thai: ขอทาน (th) (kɔ̌ɔ-taan)
• Tocharian B: yāsk-
• Turkish: yalvarmak (tr), dilenmek (tr)
• Ukrainian: жебра́чити impf (žebráčyty), же́брати impf (žébraty), проси́ти impf (prosýty)
• Uzbek: тиланмоқ (tilanmoq)
• Vietnamese: ăn xin (vi)
• Volapük: lubegön (vo)
• Zazaki: ver geyren
• ǃXóõ: ǁgàã

to plead with someone for help

• Arabic: تَسَوَّلَ (tasawwala), رَجَا (rajā)
• Armenian: աղաչել (hy) (aġačʻel)
• Belarusian: умо́льваць impf (umólʹvacʹ), малі́ць impf (malícʹ), блага́ць impf (blahácʹ), прасі́ць impf (prasícʹ)
• Bulgarian: мо́ля (bg) impf (mólja), умоля́вам (bg) impf (umoljávam)
• Catalan: suplicar (ca), pregar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 央求 (zh) (yāngqiú), 求 (zh) (qiú)

• Czech: prosit (cs) impf
• Danish: bede (da), bønfalde
• Dutch: smeken (nl)
• Esperanto: petegi
• Ewe: ɖekuku
• Finnish: kerjätä (fi), pyytää (fi), anella (fi), anoa (fi), kärttää
• French: implorer (fr), supplier (fr)
• Galician: pregar, ladar, deprecar, questar, pianchar, medear
• German: anflehen (de), bitten (de)
• Greek: ικετεύω (el) (iketévo)

  Ancient: ἱκετεύω (hiketeúō), δέω (déō)

• Hebrew: הִתְחַנֵּן (he) (hitkhanén)
• Hungarian: könyörög (hu)
• Indonesian: minta (id), mohon (id)
• Interlingua: implorar
• Italian: implorare (it), pregare (it)
• Japanese: 頼む (ja) (たのむ, tanomu), 拝み倒す (おがみたおす, ogamitaosu)
• Korean: 부탁하다 (ko) (butakhada), 빌다 (ko) (bilda), 탄원하다 (ko) (tanwonhada), 구걸하다 (ko) (gugeolhada), 간청하다 (ko) (gancheonghada), 애원하다 (ko) (aewonhada)
• Latin: rogo, obsecrō
• Lombard: pregà
• Macedonian: моли impf (moli), преколнува impf (prekolnuva)
• Middle English: beggen
• Occitan: suplicar (oc), pregar (oc)
• Polish: błagać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: suplicar (pt), implorar (pt)
• Romanian: ruga (ro)
• Russian: умоля́ть (ru) impf (umoljátʹ), моли́ть (ru) impf (molítʹ), проси́ть (ru) impf (prosítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мо̀лити impf, замо̀лити pf

  Roman: mòliti (sh) impf, zamòliti (sh) pf

• Slovak: prosiť (sk) impf
• Slovene: prositi (sl) impf
• Spanish: suplicar (es), rogar (es), deprecar (es)
• Swedish: be (sv), bönfalla (sv)
• Tamil: கெஞ்சு (ta) (keñcu)
• Thai: ขอร้อง (th) (kɔ̌ɔ-rɔ́ɔng)
• Ukrainian: блага́ти (uk) impf (blaháty), моли́ти impf (molýty), проси́ти impf (prosýty)
• Vietnamese: khẩn cầu (vi)
• Volapük: begön (vo)
• ǃXóõ: ǁgàã

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

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} smeek
• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} към моля (kǎm molja)
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} peti (eo)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 구걸하다 (ko) (gugeolhada)
• Swahili: ^{(please verify)} -ng'ang'ania, ^{(please verify)} -omba
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} cardota (cy)

Noun

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. […]

See also

• beggar

Etymology 2

From Proto-Turkic *bēg.

Noun

beg (plural begs)

2. (history) Alternative form of bey

Translations

title — see also bey

• Arabic: بيك m (bēg)
• Azerbaijani: bəy (az)
• Bengali: বেগ (bn) (beg)
• Bulgarian: бег (bg) (beg)
• Finnish: beg (fi)
• Hindi: बेग (hi) m (beg)
• Hungarian: bég (hu)
• Kazakh: бек (bek)
• Ottoman Turkish: بك (bey)
• Persian: بیگ (fa) (beyg)
• Southern Altai: бий (biy)
• Tajik: бек (bek)
• Tatar: бәк (tt) (bäk)
• Turkish: bey (tr)
• Urdu: بیگ m (beg)
• Uyghur: بەگ (beg)
• Uzbek: bek (uz)

Etymology 3

Noun

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

• beg on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• GBE, GEB, Gbe, Geb, bge

Albanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeɡ/
• Rhymes: -eɡ

Noun

beg (plural begj or beglerë, definite begu)

1. Alternative form of bej

References

• “beg,~u”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[1] (in Albanian), 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

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بك (beg).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: beg

Noun

beg m (plural begs)

1. (historical) Alternative form of bei

Iban

Etymology

Borrowed from English bag.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛɡ/

Noun

beg

1. bag

Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from English bag.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Malaysia):

  (file)

Noun

beg (Jawi spelling بيݢ)

1. bag

   Beg sekolah saya berat.

   My school bag is heavy.

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish bec, from Proto-Celtic *biggos (“small”).

Adjective

beg (plural beggey, comparative loo, superlative sloo)

1. small

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
beg	veg	meg
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• 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

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *běgъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bêːɡ/

Noun

bȇg m (Cyrillic spelling бе̑г)

1. escape

Declension

Declension of beg

	singular	plural
nominative	beg	begovi
genitive	bega	begova
dative	begu	begovima
accusative	bega	begove
vocative	beže	begovi
locative	begu	begovima
instrumental	begom	begovima

Derived terms

• bekstvo
• bežanje
• prebeg

References

• “beg”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024

Slovene

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *běgъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /béːk/

Noun

bẹ̑g m inan

1. run
2. getaway
3. escape
4. withdrawal
5. (phrase) flight

   Planiti v beg ― To take flight

Inflection

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

From Turkish bey.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /béːk/

Noun

bẹ̑g m anim

1. bey (Turkish governor)

Inflection

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

• “beg”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2024

Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from English beg.

Noun

beg (nominative plural begs)

1. request, an action of begging

Declension

declension of beg

	singular	plural
nominative	beg	begs
genitive	bega	begas
dative	bege	beges
accusative	begi	begis
vocative 1	o beg!	o begs!
predicative 2	begu	begus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Zhuang

Etymology

From Chinese 白 (MC baek).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /peːk˧/
• Tone numbers: beg⁸
• Hyphenation: beg

Adjective

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

1. (bound) white

Adverb

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

1. in vain; for nothing
2. for free; free of charge