begalewen

Middle English

Etymology

From bi- +‎ *galewen, probably related to Old English āgælwed (“astonished, disconcerted”), Old English āgelwan (“to astonish, stupify”).

Compare a-gælwed (“consternated, astonished”) and geal(-g) (“troubled, dismayed”), from Proto-Germanic *gálx, *galg, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *g(')hAlk(')h-, connected with Ancient Greek καλχαίνω (kalkhaínō, “to make purple”) << κάλχη (kálkhē, “purple”), later with a poetic sense of "be excited, ponder deeply."

Verb

begalewen (third-person singular simple present begaleweth, present participle begalewende, begalewynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle begalewed)

1. (transitive) To frighten.
   • c. 1320, "Bevis of H." in Ellis Specim. (1811) II. 171

     That horse was swift as any swalowe / No man might that horse begallowe.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: begallow (unattested)

References

• “begalewen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.