beck

See also: Beck and béck

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛk

Etymology 1

From Middle English bek, bekk, becc, from Old Norse bekkr (“a stream or brook”), from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“stream”). Cognate with Low German bek, beck, German Bach, Old English bæc, bec, bæċe, beċe (“beck, brook”). More at beach.

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. (Norfolk, Northern England) A stream or small river.
   • Drayton

     The brooks, the becks, the rills.

Synonyms

• brook
• burn
• creek
• stream

Etymology 2

From Middle English bekken, a shortened form of Middle English bekenen, from Old English bēcnan, bēacnian (“to signify; beckon”), from Proto-Germanic *baukną (“beacon”). More at beacon.

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, especially as a call or command.

   To be at the beck and call of someone.

Verb

beck (third-person singular simple present becks, present participle becking, simple past and past participle becked)

1. (archaic) To nod or motion with the head.
   • Shakespeare

     When gold and silver becks me to come on.

   • 1896, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, Winter Evening Tales^[1]:

     "I'll buy so many acres of old Scotland and call them by the Lockerby's name; and I'll have nobles and great men come bowing and becking to David Lockerby as they do to Alexander Gordon.

   • 1881, Various, The Best of the World's Classics, Vol. V (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland III^[2]:

     The becking waiter, that with wreathed smiles, wont to spread for Samuel and Bozzy their "supper of the gods," has long since pocketed his last sixpence; and vanished, sixpence and all, like a ghost at cock-crowing.

Etymology 3

See back.

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. A vat.

Etymology 4

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. Obsolete form of beak.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

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Portuguese

Noun

beck m (plural becks)

1. Alternative spelling of beque

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Swedish

Pronunciation

• Homophone: bäck

Noun

beck n

1. pitch; A dark, extremely viscous material remaining in still after distilling crude oil and tar.

Declension

Declension of beck

	uncountable		uncountable
Neuter	indefinite	definite
nominative	beck	becket
genitive	becks	beckets

Related terms

• becksvart