bethatch

Etymology

From Middle English bithecchen, from Old English beþeċċan (“to cover; protect; cover over; conceal”), from Proto-West Germanic *biþakkjan, equivalent to be- + thatch. Cognate with Dutch bedekken (“to cover”), German bedecken (“to cover”). More at its doublet bedeck. Alteration in vowel after Middle English perhaps due to thatch.

verb

  1. To cover with thatch; to thatch.“Part it behind, like terrier's back, Bethatch the front like wheaten stack, […]”
  2. To cover with hair.“Both are coolly intense, well bethatched, bell-bottomed and bespectacled.”