Definition of BETIDE

betide

Meanings

Plural: betid, betide, betided

Verb

  • become of; happen to
  • Often used in a prediction (chiefly in woe betide) or a wish: to happen to (someone or something); to befall.
  • Chiefly in the third person: to happen; to take place; to bechance, to befall.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English bityden [and other forms]; from bi- (prefix forming verbs, usually with a completive, figurative, or intensive sense) + tyden (“to come about, happen, occur; to befall, become of, happen to (someone); to be the fate of (someone); to await (someone); to fare, get along”); tyden is derived from Old English tīdan (“to befall, betide, happen”), related to tīd (“time; season; hour”) (both ultimately either from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- (“to divide, share”) or *dī- (“time”)) + -an (suffix forming the infinitive of most verbs). The English word is analysable as be- + tide (“(obsolete) to happen, occur”).

Synonyms

bechance, befall, belimp, betide, betime, chance, come about, come to pass, crop up, evene, eventuate, go on, hap, happen, hold, occur, pass, take place, tide, transpire

Scrabble Score: 9

betide is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
betide is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
betide is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

betide is a valid Words With Friends word