begift means to entrust; endow. It carries an Arena rating of 1285, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, begift ranks #3,117 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,551 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #4,137 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #6,119 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
Why “begift” is a great word
To give a gift or gifts to; to endow or bestow something upon someone. From Middle English bigiften ("to entrust"), equivalent to the prefix be- (thoroughly, about) + gift. Unlike "endow," which implies establishing a permanent fund, or "bestow," which confers an honor with formal gravity, to begift is a more general, archaic, and quietly literary act of giving. It is the gilded apple passed from hand to hand in an old tapestry, a bundle of dried herbs left on a neighbor's stoop, a single polished stone pressed silently into a child's palm—the quiet, unrecorded ceremony of giving, stripped of ceremony.
Etymology
From Middle English bigiften (“to entrust”), equivalent to be- + gift. Cognate with Dutch begiften (“to endow”), German begiften (“to endow”), Swedish begåva (“to endow, dower”).
verb
- To entrust; endow.e.g.“I suspect, for instance, that Bill Gates might not have wanted to begift such a program with the Microsoft name.” — 2005, Philip R. Sullivan, The World According To Homo Sapiens:
- To give a gift or gifts to; bestow or present with gifts.e.g.“They are harangued, bedinnered, begifted,[...]” — 1838, Thomas Carlyle, The French revolution: a history:
- To give as a gift.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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