Dictionary

begripe en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /bɪˈɡɹaɪp/

Etymology

From Middle English begripen, bigripen, from Old English begrīpan (“to grip, seize, lay hold of; chide”), from Proto-West Germanic *bigrīpan. Equivalent to be- (“around, about”) + gripe.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To lay hold of; apprehend; grip; grasp.
   • He, with his middle feet, begriped his paunch, And took the arms with the anterior; And then he bit both one and other cheek. 1865, Dante Alighieri, The Comedy of Dante Allighieri. [sic]: Part I--The Hell:
   • And as for this sword there shall never man begripe it at the handle but one, but he shall pass all other. In the name of God, said Percivale, I shall essay to handle it. So he set his hand to the sword, but he might not begripe it. 1899, Sir Thomas Malory, Sir Edward Strachey, William Caxton, Le morte Darthur:

Forms

Relateds

begrip