beg.
To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
Meaning & usage
To request the help of someone, often in the form of money.
He begged on the street corner from passers-by.
To plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat.
I beg your pardon. I didn’t mean to cause offence.
He begged her to go to the prom with him.
To unwillingly provoke a negative, often violent, reaction.
The way you keep eating raw meat, you're just begging to get tapeworms.
To obviously lack or be in need of something.
A captivating novel that just begs for a movie adaptation
In the phrase beg the question: to assume.
In the phrase beg the question: to raise (a question).
To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived from Proto-West Germanic *bedu (“plea, petition, prayer”, whence English bead). Alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *bedagō (“petitioner, requester, beggar”), an agent noun from the same source. Compare North Frisian bēdagi (“to pray”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”). All ultimately from the root of English bid, which see for more. An alternative theory considers the verb a backformation from beggar and derives the latter from Old French begart (“kind of lay brother”).
The act of begging; an imploring request.
A pretentious, attention-seeking, or eccentric person.
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Middle English beggen, of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English *becgian, *bedcian, syncopated forms of bedecian (“to beg”), itself of obscure origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bedukōn, a frequentative verb derived from Proto-West Germanic *bedu (“plea, petition, prayer”, whence English bead). Alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *bedagō (“petitioner, requester, beggar”), an agent noun from the same source. Compare North Frisian bēdagi (“to pray”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍅𐌰 (bidagwa, “beggar”). All ultimately from the root of English bid, which see for more. An alternative theory considers the verb a backformation from beggar and derives the latter from Old French begart (“kind of lay brother”).
Alternative form of bey.
Where this word comes from
From Proto-Turkic *bēg.
Abbreviation of beginning.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.