belie
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English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
- bely
Pronunciation [edit]
Etymology 1 [edit]
From Middle English belyen, beliggen, from Old English belicgan, bilicgan (“to lie around, surround, hedge in, encompass”), equivalent to be- (“around, by”) + lie (to be positioned). Cognate with German beliegen.
Verb [edit]
belie (third-person singular simple present belies, present participle belying, simple past belay, past participle belain)
- (transitive, obsolete) To lie around; encompass.
- (transitive, obsolete, of an army) To surround; beleaguer.
Etymology 2 [edit]
From Middle English belyen, beleoȝen, from Old English belēogan (“to deceive by lying, be mistaken”), equivalent to be- (“about”) + lie (to deceive). Cognate with Old Frisian biliaga (“to belie”), Dutch beliegen (“to belie”), German belügen (“to lie to”), Swedish beljuga (“to tell lies about”).
Verb [edit]
belie (third-person singular simple present belies, present participle belying, simple past and past participle belied)
- (transitive) To tell lies about; to slander. [from 13th c.]
- Shakespeare
- Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him.
- Shakespeare
- (transitive) To give a false representation of, to misrepresent. [from 17th c.]
- Shakespeare
- Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.2.6.iv:
- He found it by experience, and made good use of it in his own person, if Plutarch belie him not [...].
- Shakespeare
- (transitive) To contradict, to show (something) to be false. [from 17th c.]
- Dryden
- Their trembling hearts belie their boastful tongues.
- Her obvious nervousness belied what she said.
- Dryden
- (transitive, perhaps nonstandard) To show, evince, demonstrate: to show (something) to be present.
- 1993, Carol A. Mossman, Politics and Narratives of Birth: Gynocolonization from Rousseau to Zola, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-41586-6, page 28:
- A host of evidence is adduced by the accused, evidence whose sometimes self-contradictory nature belies a certain desperation.
- 1993, Carol A. Mossman, Politics and Narratives of Birth: Gynocolonization from Rousseau to Zola, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-41586-6, page 28:
- (obsolete) To mimic; to counterfeit.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)
- (transitive, obsolete) To fill with lies.
- Shakespeare
- The breath of slander doth belie all corners of the world.
- Shakespeare
Synonyms [edit]
- (to give a false representation): misrepresent
- (to tell lies about): calumniate
- (to contradict or show to be false): contradict, give lie to, give the lie to
Translations [edit]
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