# beten
## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -eːtən

### Noun

beten
* plural of beet

### Verb

beten
* inflection of bijten:
** plural past indicative
** (dated or formal) plural past subjunctive

### Anagrams

* beent

## German
### Etymology

From Middle High German beten, from Old High German betōn.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbeːtən/
* Audio (Germany):(file)
* Audio (Austria):(file)
* Hyphenation: be‧ten

### Verb

beten (weak, third-person singular present betet, past tense betete, past participle gebetet, auxiliary haben)
* to pray

#### Conjugation

$^1$Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.

#### Derived terms

* anbeten
* Betbruder / Betschwester
* Betchor
* Beten
* betend
* Betender / Betende
* Beter / Beterin
* Betglocke (Kirchenglocke)
* Bethaus
* Betkapelle
* Betperle (Betperlen)
* Betpult
* Betsaal
* den Rosenkranz beten
* gesundbeten (jemanden gesundbeten)
* herbeten
* herunterbeten
* nachbeten
* vorbeten

#### Related terms

* Anbetung
* Gebet
* Gesundbeten
* Vorbeter / Vorbeterin

### Further reading

* “beten” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
* “beten” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
* “beten” in Duden online
* “beten” in OpenThesaurus.de

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English bēatan, from Proto-West Germanic *bautan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd-.

#### Alternative forms

* beete, bet, bete, betyn, beytt
* beaten (Early Middle English)
* byete (Kent)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbɛːtən/

#### Verb

beten (third-person singular simple present beteth, present participle betynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative bet, past participle beten)
* To beat; to repeatedly strike or hit:
** To hit or whip; to attack with a blunt weapon or the hands:
** To bombard or strike with projectiles.
** (of the weather) To violently or furiously assail.
** To bat (wings or eyes) up and down.
** (rare) To strike cloth or tow.
* To (repeatedly or violently) press, pound or whack:
** To strike metal into shape; to perform metalworking.
** To throb or vibrate; to make a regular pulse.
** (rare) To thresh; to separate grain from the chaff.
* (especially cooking) To crush, grind or mix; to cause to lose form.
* To decorate with embroidery, metalwork, or paintwork.
* To beat (conquer, ruin, or overcome).
* (figurative) To inflict punishment upon someone.
* (rare) To be near or adjacent; to border.
* (of a quarry, rare) To enter a waterbody so a hunting hound loses scent.
* (figurative, rare) To talk or converse about.

##### Usage notes

* Exceptionally, a reduplicated strong class 7 past beft is found besides expected bet in the Cursor Mundi; hoten is the only other verb to display this highly archaic feature.

##### Conjugation

| infinitive | (to) beten, bete | (to) beten, bete |
| | present tense | past tense |
| 1st-person singular | bete | bet, bette |
| 2nd-person singular | betest | bete, bet, bettest |
| 3rd-person singular | beteth | bet, bette |
| subjunctive singular | bete | bete$^1$, bette$^1$ |
| imperative singular | bete | — |
| plural$^2$ | beten, bete | beten, bete, betten, bette |
| imperative plural | beteth, bete | — |
| participles | betynge, betende | beten, bete, bet, ybeten, ybete |
$^1$Replaced by the indicative in later Middle English. $^2$Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

##### Descendants

* English: beat
** → Pennsylvania German: biede
* Scots: beat, beit

##### References

* “bēten, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 2

Inherited from Old English bētan, from Proto-West Germanic *bōtijan, from Proto-Germanic *bōtijaną; some forms are remodelled on bet (“better”).

#### Alternative forms

* beete, bete, bett, betten, beytt
* betenn, beote (Early Middle English)

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbeːtən/, /ˈbɛtən/

#### Verb

beten (third-person singular simple present beteth, present participle betynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative bette, past participle bet)
* To fix or mend; to perform repairs to.
** To alleviate or cure; to remove a condition.
** To reassure; to free from distress.
* To save from danger or death.
* To expiate; to make amends for a sin or wrong.
* To start or add fuel to a fire; to stoke.
* (figuratively) To rouse or stir (a feeling)

##### Conjugation

| infinitive | (to) beten, bete | (to) beten, bete |
| | present tense | past tense |
| 1st-person singular | bete | bette, bete |
| 2nd-person singular | betest | bettest, betest |
| 3rd-person singular | beteth, bet | bette, bete |
| subjunctive singular | bete | bette, bete |
| imperative singular | bete | — |
| plural$^1$ | beten, bete | betten, bette, beten, bete |
| imperative plural | beteth, bete | — |
| participles | betynge, betende | bet, ybet |
$^1$Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

##### Descendants

* English: beet (dialectal, obsolete)
* Scots: bete, beit, beet, beat

##### References

* “bẹ̄ten, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Swedish
### Noun

beten
* definite singular of bet
* inflection of bete:
** definite singular
** indefinite plural

### Anagrams

* benet

## Tok Pisin
### Etymology

From German beten.

### Noun

beten
* prayer