bestow

English
WOTD – 27 March 2023

Etymology
PIE word
*h₁epi

The verb is derived from Middle English bestowen, bistouen, bistowen (“to give, bestow; to apply (something to something else); to arrange or have control over (something); to place (someone) in a position; to use (for some purpose); (reflexive) to find (oneself) a place to live or shelter”) [and other forms],[1] from bi- (prefix forming verbs, often with a completive, figurative, or intensive meaning)[2] + stouen, stowen (“to pack (cargo) in a ship, stow; to place (someone) in a certain position; to provide quarters for, lodge; etc.”)[3][4][5] (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to place; to stand (up)”)). The English word is analysable as be- (intensifying prefix forming verbs) +‎ stow (“to put (something) away in a suitable place; etc.”).

The noun is derived from the verb.[6]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /bɪˈstəʊ/
  • Audio (RP)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /bɪˈstoʊ/
  • Rhymes: -əʊ
  • Hyphenation: be‧stow

Verb

bestow (third-person singular simple present bestows, present participle bestowing, simple past and past participle bestowed) (transitive)

  1. To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use.
    • 1551, Thomas More, “The Second Boke of the Communycacion of Raphael Hythlodaye, Concernynge the Best State of a Commen Wealthe: Cõteynyng the Discription of Utopia, with a Large Declaration of the Godly Gouernement, and of All the Good Lawes and Orders of the Same Ilande. Of Scyences Craftes and Occupatyons.”, in Raphe Robynson [i.e., Ralph Robinson], transl., A Fruteful, and Pleasaunt Worke of the Best State of a Publyque Weale, and of the Newe Yle Called Utopia: […], London: […] [Steven Mierdman for] Abraham Vele, […], →OCLC, signature [H.vij.], recto:
      All the voide time, that is betwene the huores of woorke ſlepe and meat, that they be ſuffered to beſtowe, euerye man as he lyketh beſte hym ſelfe.
    • 1633, Iohn Ford [i.e., John Ford], Loues Sacrifice. A Tragedie […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Hugh Beeston, […], →OCLC, Act I:
      [S]ince the voyce / Of moſt ſupreme Authority commands / My abſence: I determine to beſtovv / Some time in learning Languages abroad; […]
    • 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], chapter I, in The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN:
      [T]his good man vvas obſerved to ſpend, or if you vvill, to beſtovv a tenth part of his time in Angling; and alſo (for I have converſed vvith thoſe vvhich have converſed vvith him) to beſtovv a tenth part of his Revenue, and all his fiſh, amongſt the poor that inhabited near to thoſe Rivers in vvhich it vvas caught, ſaying often, That Charity gave life to Religion: […]
    • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section I. The Sixteenth Century.”, in James Nichols, editor, The Church History of Britain, […], volume II, new edition, London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, →OCLC, book VI, subsection I (Primitive Monks, with Their Piety and Painfulness), page 143:
      When their task was done, they again bestowed themselves in prayers, meditations, reading, and writing; and at night, when the heavens were full of stars, they first began to feed, having their temperate repast to satisfy hunger on bread, water, and herbs.
    • 1734 September, “From Richmond Park. A Poem.”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine: Or, Monthly Intelligencer, London: […] F. Jefferies, […], →OCLC, page 505, column 1:
      Richmond, thy purling ſtreams and pleaſing ſhades, / Might claim the chorus of Aonian maids; / VVhere e’en Apollo might his hours beſtovv, / By turns employ his lyre, by turns his bovv, / VVhere all the pleaſures dvvell, vvhich poets feign / On fair Arcadia’s fields or Tempe’s plain.
    1. (specifically, obsolete) To apply (money) for some purpose; to expend, to spend.
      Synonym: lay out
  2. To impart (something) gratuitously; to present (something) to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honour; to confer, to give.
    Medals were bestowed on the winning team.
  3. (archaic)
    1. To place or put (someone or something) somewhere or in a certain situation; to dispose of.
      • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare,  […] [T]he Merrie Wiues of Windsor. […] (First Quarto), London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson, […], published 1602, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
        The diuell take the one partie, / And his dam the other, / And theyle be both beſtovved. / I haue endured more for their ſakes, / Then man is able to endure.
        That is, the two wives will be placed in hell by the Devil and his wife.
      • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 265, column 1:
        Her Father, and my ſelfe (lavvful eſpials) / VVill ſo beſtovv our ſelues, that ſeeing vnſeene / VVe may of their encounter frankely iudge, / And gather by him, as he is behaued, / If't be th'affliction of his loue, or no. / That thus he ſuffers for.
      • 1610, John Guillim, “To the Courteous Reader”, in A Display of Heraldrie: […], London: […] William Hall for Raphe Mab, published 1611, →OCLC:
        Moreover I haue […] beſtovved the chiefe grounds, Principles, Rules, and Obſeruations [of heraldry] vnder their proper heads, and manifeſted their vſe by examples of ſpeciall choice, vvhereby they receiue not onely vvarrant, but alſo liuely ſenſe and vigor, in default vvhereof they vvould become deſtitute of all force: […]
      • c. 1615–1617 (date written; published 1652)​, Thomas Middleton, “The Widow”, in A[rthur] H[enry] Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton […] (The English Dramatists), volume V, London: John C. Nimmo […], published 1885, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, lines 65–68, page 128:
        Here are blank warrants of all dispositions; give me but the name and nature of your malefactor, and I'll bestow him according to his merits.
      • 1717, Homer; [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book IX”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume III, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, lines 283–284, page 16:
        VVith Bread the glitt’ring Caniſters they load, / VVhich round the Board Menætius’s Son beſtovv’d; […]
      • 1873 January 23, Robert Browning, “Part II”, in Red Cotton Night-Cap Country: Or Turf and Towers, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 116:
        The white domestic pigeon pairs secure, / Nay, does mere duty by bestowing egg / In authorized compartment, warm and safe, / Boarding about, and gilded spire above, / Hoisted on pole, to dogs' and cats' despair!
    2. To deposit (something) for safekeeping; to lay up (something) in store; to stow.
      • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Luke xij:[16], folio xcvij, recto:
        The londes of a certayne man brought forth frutes plenteouſly⸝ and he thought in hym ſilfe ſayinge: whatt ſhall I do⸝ becauſe I have noo roume where to beſtowe my frutes?
      • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 87, column 1:
        Novv as I am a Chriſtian anſvver me, / In vvhat ſafe place you haue beſtovv'd my monie; / Or I ſhall breake that merrie ſconce of yours / That ſtands on tricks, vvhen I am vndiſpos'd: / VVhere is the thouſand Markes thou hadſt of me?
      • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXVI.] Of Certaine Stones which will Quickly Consume the Bodies that be Laid therein. Of Others Againe that Preserve Them a Long Time. Of the Stone Called Assius, and the Medicinable Properties thereof.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the VVorld. Commonly Called, The Natvrall Historie of C. Plinivs Secvndus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, published 1635, →OCLC, page 587:
        Near unto Aſſos, a citie in Troas, there is found in the quarries a certaine ſtone called Sarcophagus, vvhich runneth in a direct veine, and is apt to be cloven and ſo cut out of the rocke by flakes: The reaſon of the name is this, becauſe that vvithin the ſpace of fortie daies it is knovvne for certain to conſume the bodies of the dead vvhich are beſtovved therein, skin, fleſh, and bone, all ſave the teeth.
      • 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book I]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC, page 6:
        But as ſome of the Oxen in driving, miſſed their fellovvs behind and honing after them, bellovved as their nature is: Hercules chanced to heare them lovv again, and anſvver from out of the cave vvherein they had been beſtovved: vvhereat he turned back, and made haſte thither.
      • a. 1974 (date written), J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age: In which These Tales Come to Their End”, in Christopher Tolkien, editor, The Silmarillion, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, published 15 September 1977, →ISBN, page 298:
        Of the Three Rings that the Elves had preserved unsullied no open word was ever spoken among the Wise, and few even of the Eldar knew where they were bestowed.
    3. (also reflexive) To provide (someone or oneself) with accommodation; to find quarters for (someone or oneself); to lodge, to quarter.
      Synonyms: house, put up
  4. (obsolete)
    1. (reflexive) To behave or conduct (oneself); to acquit.
      • 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 III, scene i], page 29, column 1:
        Novv therefore vvould I haue thee to my Tutor / (For long agone I haue forgot to court, / Beſides the faſhion of the time is chang'd) / Hovv, and vvhich vvay I may beſtovv my ſelfe / To be regarded in her ſun-bright eye.
      • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
        Hovv might vve ſee Falſtaffe beſtovv himſelf to night in his true colours, and not our ſelues be ſeene?
      • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 203, column 1:
        [T]he boy is faire, / Of femall fauour, and beſtovves himſelfe / Like a ripe ſiſter: […]
      • 1608, [Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas], “[Du Bartas His Second VVeeke, […].Abraham. […].] The Vocation. The I. Part of the III. Day of the II. Week.”, in Josuah Sylvester, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC, page 401:
        He all aſſayls, and him ſo braue beſtovves, / That in his Fight he deals more deaths than blovves.
      • 1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Exercise Rectified of Body and Minde”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed [by Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and Leonard Lichfield and William Turner] for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 2, section 2, member 4, page 263:
        And thence it comes to paſſe that in City and country ſo many grievances of body and mind, and this ferall diſeaſe of melancholy so frequently rageth, and now domineeres almoſt all over Europe amongſt our great ones. They knovv not hovv to ſpend their times (diſports excepted, vvhich are all their buſineſſe) vvhat to do, or othervviſe hovv to beſtovv themſelves: like our moderne Frenchmen, that had rather loſe a pound of bloud in a ſingle combate, then a drop of ſvveat in any honeſt labour.
    2. (also reflexive) To give (someone or oneself) in marriage.
      • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], lines 50–51, page 210, column 2:
        Gentlemen, importune me no farther, / For hovv I firmly am reſolu'd you knovv: / That is, not to beſtovv my yongeſt daughter, / Before I haue a husband for the elder: […]
      • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], page 205, column 2:
        You ſay, if I bring in your Roſalinde, / You vvill beſtovv her on Orlando heere?
      • c. 1607–1611 (first performance), Franc[is] Beaumont; Jo[hn] Fletcher, Cupids Revenge. […], 3rd edition, London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews], published 1635, →OCLC, Act II, scene [ii]:
        And I vvill tell you father: By this light ſir, / (But that I never vvill beſtovv my ſelfe / But to your liking) if ſhe novv vvould have me, / I novv vvould marry her.
      • 1709 October 12 (Gregorian calendar)​, Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Joseph Addison; Richard Steele], “Saturday, October 1, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 75; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], volume II, London stereotype edition, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 26:
        I could have bestowed her upon a fine gentleman, who extremely admired her wit, and would have given her a coach and six: but I found it absolutely necessary to cross the strain; for had they met, they had entirely been rivals in discourse, and in continual contention for the superiority of understanding, and brought forth critics, pedants, or pretty good poets.

Conjugation
Conjugation of bestow
infinitive (to) bestow
present tense past tense
1st-person singular bestow bestowed
2nd-person singular bestow, bestowest† bestowed, bestowedst†
3rd-person singular bestows, bestoweth† bestowed
plural bestow
subjunctive bestow bestowed
imperative bestow —
participles bestowing bestowed

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

Translations
to deposit (something) for safekeeping; to lay up (something) in store — See also translations at stow

Noun

bestow (plural bestows)

  1. (obsolete, rare) An act of presenting a thing to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honour; a bestowal.
    Synonyms: bestowing, bestowment
    • 1586, William Warner, “The Fifth Booke. Chapter XXVII.”, in Albions England. A Continued Historie of the Same Kingdome, from the Originals of the First Inhabitants thereof: […], 5th edition, London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant for George Potter, […], published 1602, →OCLC, page 134:
      The Muſes bacely begge, or bibbe, or both, and muſt, for vvhy? / They finde as bad Beſtoe as is their Portage beggerly: / Yea novv by melancholie vvalkes and thred-bare coates vve geſſe / At Clyents and at Poetes: none vvorke more and profit leſſe, […]

References
  1. “bistouen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. “bi-, pref.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. “stouen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. “bestow, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023.
  5. “bestow, v.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN.
  6. “bestow, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023.

Anagrams
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.