different between behest vs beck

English

Etymology

From Middle English biheste, from Old English beh?s (“vow, promise”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“be-”), *haisiz (“command”), from *haitan? (“to command”). Final -t by analogy with other similar words in -t. Related to Old English beh?tan (“to command, promise”), Middle Low German beheit, beh?t (“a promise”). Compare also hest (“command”), hight.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /bi?h?st/

Noun

behest (plural behests)

1. A command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request; now usually in the phrase at the behest of. [from 12th c.]
   • 2009, “What a waste”, The Economist, 15 Oct 2009:

     the House of Representatives will try to water down even this feeble effort at the behest of the unions whose members enjoy some of the most lavish policies.

   • 2011, Owen Gibson, The Guardian, 24 Mar 2011:

     The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is to meet with the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, at the behest of the Premier League in a bid to resolve their long-running feud.

2. (obsolete) A vow; a promise.
   • c. 1440, Markaryte Paston, letter to John Paston

     The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made.

Translations

Verb

behest (third-person singular simple present behests, present participle behesting, simple past and past participle behested)

1. (obsolete) To promise; vow.

Anagrams

• Bethes, Thebes, Thêbes, bethes, thebes

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology 1

From Middle English bek, bekk, becc, from Old Norse bekkr (“a stream or brook”), from Proto-Germanic *bakiz (“stream”).

Cognate with Low German bek, beck, German Bach, Dutch beek, Swedish bäck, Old English bæc, bec, bæ?e, be?e (“beck, brook”). Doublet of batch. More at beach.

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. (Norfolk, Northern English dialect) A stream or small river.
   • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion song 1 p. 3[1]:

     […] Whence, climing to the Cleeves, her selfe she firmlie sets / The Bourns, the Brooks, the Becks, the Rills, the Rivilets […]

   • 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, chapter XIII:

     {...} the sky is blue, and the larks are singing, and the becks and brooks are all brim full.

Synonyms

Derived terms

• Troutbeck

Etymology 2

From Middle English bekken, a shortened form of Middle English bekenen, from Old English b?cnan, b?acnian (“to signify; beckon”), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn, from Proto-Germanic *baukn? (“beacon”). More at beacon.

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. A significant nod, or motion of the head or hand, especially as a call or command.

Derived terms

• beck and call

Translations

Verb

beck (third-person singular simple present becks, present participle becking, simple past and past participle becked)

1. (archaic) To nod or motion with the head.

Etymology 3

See back.

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. A vat.

Etymology 4

From Middle English bec, bek, from Old French bec (“beak”),

Noun

beck (plural becks)

1. Obsolete form of beak.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?k(i)

Noun

beck m (plural becks)

1. Alternative spelling of beque

Swedish

Etymology

From Middle Low German pik, from Latin pix. See also Dutch pek, German Pech.

Pronunciation

• Homophone: bäck

Noun

beck n

1. pitch; A dark, extremely viscous material remaining in still after distilling crude oil and tar.

Declension

Related terms

• becksvart