beg

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɛɡ/, US also IPA: /beɪg/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɡ

Etymology 1

From Middle English beggen, assimilation from Old English *bedican, syncopated variant of bedecian (“to beg”). Related to Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”), Old English biddan (“to ask”). More at bid, bead.

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 passersby.

2. (transitive) to plead with someone for help or for a favor

   He begged her to go to the prom with him.

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 5

     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 assume, in the phrase beg the question
4. (proscribed) to raise a question, in the phrase beg the question

Usage notes

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

Antonyms

• (raise a question): set aside

Derived terms

• beg the question
• go begging

Translations

to request the help of someone, ask for money

• Afrikaans: bedel (af)
• Arabic: استجدى (ar) (istajdaa), احتمل (ar) (iHtamala)
• Armenian: մուրալ (hy) (mural) 
• Bulgarian: прося (bg) (prosja), изпросвам (bg) (izprosvam)
• Catalan: pidolar (ca), mendicar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 央求 (cmn) (yāngqiú), 求 (cmn) (qiú), trad. 懇求, simpl. 恳求 (pinyin: kěnqiú)

• Crimean Tatar: yalvarmaq
• Dutch: bedelen (nl)
• Ewe: ɖekuku
• Filipino: magpalimos
• Finnish: kerjätä (fi), pyytää (fi), anella (fi), anoa (fi), kärttää (fi)
• French: mendier (fr), quêter (fr), quémander (fr)
• Georgian: ხვეწნა (ka) (xvecna) , მუდარა (ka) (mudara) 
• German: betteln (de)
• Greek: ζητιανεύω (el) (zitianévo), επαιτώ (el) (epetó) 
• Hebrew: התחנן (he) (hitkhanén)

• Hungarian: koldul (hu), kéreget (hu)
• Indonesian: mengemis, minta-minta
• Interlingua: mendicar
• Italian: mendicare (it), elemosinare (it)
• Japanese: 物乞い (ものごい, monogoi)
• Latin: mendicare (la)
• Maori: minene (mi), pīnono (mi), pikoni (mi), mīnono (mi)
• Polish: żebrać
• Portuguese: mendigar (pt)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: просить/попросить (prosít’/poprosít’), попрошайничать (poprošájničat’) of a beggar, побираться (pobirát’s’a)
• Serbo-Croatian: prositi (sh)
• Spanish: mendigar (es)
• Swedish: tigga (sv)
• Tagalog: magpalimos
• Thai: ขอทาน (th) (kho than)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: lubegön
• ǃXóõ: ǁgàã

to supplicate, to plead with someone for help

• Arabic: تسول (ar) (tasawwala)
• Armenian: աղաչել (hy) (aġačel) 
• Bulgarian: моля (bg) (molja), умолявам (bg) (umoljavam)
• Catalan: suplicar (ca), pregar (ca)
• Czech: prosit (cs)
• Dutch: smeken (nl)
• Ewe: ɖekuku
• Finnish: kerjätä (fi), pyytää (fi), anella (fi), anoa (fi), kärttää (fi)
• French: implorer (fr), supplier (fr)
• German: anflehen (de)
• Greek: ικετεύω (el) (iketévo)
• Hebrew: התחנן (he) (hitkhanén)
• Hungarian: könyörög (hu)
• Indonesian: minta, mohon

• Interlingua: implorar
• Italian: implorare (it), pregare (it)
• Japanese: 頼む (たのむ, tanomu)
• Latin: rogare (la)
• Polish: prosić (pl), błagać (pl)
• Portuguese: suplicar (pt)
• Romanian: ruga (ro)
• Russian: умолять (umolját’)
• Serbo-Croatian: moliti (sh), zamoliti (sh)
• Spanish: suplicar (es), rogar (es)
• Thai: ขอร้อง (th) (khor rong)
• Volapük: begön
• ǃXóõ: ǁgàã

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: smeek
• Bulgarian: към моля (kâm molja)
• Esperanto: peti, petegi
• Korean: 구걸하다 (gugeolhada)
• Swahili: -ng'ang'ania, -omba
• Welsh: cardota

See also

• beggar

Etymology 2

Turkish beg.

Noun

beg (plural begs)

1. a provincial governor under the Ottoman Empire, a bey

Translations

provincial governor

• Bulgarian: бег (bg) (beg)
• Finnish: beg (fi)

• Hungarian: bég (hu)

Etymology 3

Abbreviation

beg

1. (knitting) beginning
   • 2005, DRG Dynamic Resource, House of White Birches, Big Book of Knit Hats & Scarves for Everyone (page 34)

     Knit with MC until work measures 3 inches from beg.

Anagrams

• Gbe, GBE
• GEB

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Lojban

Rafsi

beg

1. rafsi of bengo.

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Malay

Etymology

From English beg.

Noun

beg (Jawi spelling بيݢ)

1. bag

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Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish bec.

Adjective

beg (plural beggey)

1. small

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Slovene

Noun

beg m inan.

1. run
2. flight

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Volapük

Etymology

From English beg.

Noun

beg (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
predicative	begu	begus
vocative	o beg!	o begs!