beshrew
English
Etymology
From Middle English beschrewen (“to curse, pervert”), equivalent to be- + shrew.
Verb
beshrew (third-person singular simple present beshrews, present participle beshrewing, simple past and past participle beshrewed)
- (transitive, archaic) To invoke or wish evil upon; to curse.
- c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
- I had expected to freeze her young – or, rather, middle-aged – blood and have her perm stand on end like quills upon the fretful porpentine, and she hadn't moved a muscle. “Beshrew me,” I said, “you take it pretty calmly.”
- (transitive) An imperative uttered as a mildly imprecatory or merely expletive introductory exclamation.
- c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
- Beshrew your heart, fair daughter!
- 1633, Iohn Ford [i.e., John Ford], Loues Sacrifice. A Tragedie […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Hugh Beeston, […], →OCLC, Act III:
- R[oderico] D[’Avolos]. Beſhrevv my heart, but that’s not ſo good. / Duke [Phillippo Caraffa, Duke of Pavy]. Ha, vvhat’s that thou miſlik’ſt D'auolos?
- 1883, Howard Pyle, chapter V, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC:
- "Now, beshrew his heart," quoth jolly Robin, "that would deny a butcher. And, moreover, I will go dine with you all, my sweet lads, and that as fast as I can hie." Whereupon, having sold all his meat, he closed his stall and went with them to the great Guild Hall.
Translations
to invoke or wish evil upon; to curse
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