beseech means A request. It carries an Arena rating of 1862, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, beseech ranks #2,281 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,785 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #4,687 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #5,098 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words.
beseech is pronounced /bɪˈsiːt͡ʃ/.
Why “beseech” is a great word
To ask or plead for something with urgent and solemn earnestness. From Middle English besechen, bisechen, a prefixed form of Old English sēċan ('to seek'), by surface analysis be- (thoroughly, about) + seech (an archaic form of 'seek'), first attested c. 1200. Unlike 'beg,' which can imply an abject, undignified supplication, or 'entreat,' which suggests a persistent but measured persuasion, 'beseech' carries a formal and heartfelt gravity. It is the clasped hands in the dim confessional, the whispered vow at a deathbed, the last, cracked utterance hurled at a silent sky—the language of hope when only ceremony remains, acknowledging its own insufficiency against the indifference of power.
Etymology
From Middle English besechen, bisechen, prefixed form of Old English sēċan (“to seek or inquire about”); compare the doublet beseek, from the same dialect that gave seek. Cognate with Saterland Frisian besäike (“to visit”), Dutch bezoeken (“to visit, attend, see”), German besuchen (“to visit, attend, see”), Swedish besöka (“to visit, go to see”). By surface analysis, be- + seech.
noun
- A request.e.g.“Good madam, hear the suit that Edith urges, With such submiss beseeches; [...]” — 1617, pseudo-Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, George Chapman, Ben Jonson, Philip Massinger, Rollo, Duke of Normandy, or the Bloody Brother, act IV, scene III:
verb
- To beg or implore something of (a person).
- To beg or request for (something).e.g.“[T]he tickets had all been given out, begged, besought long ago.” — 1990, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, transl., The Brothers Karamazov, San Francisco, North Point Press, →ISBN, page 657:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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