See befon in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"descendants": [
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"word": "befang"
}
],
"lang": "Middle English",
"lang_code": "enm",
"word": "bifon"
},
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"word": "befang"
}
],
"lang": "Middle English",
"lang_code": "enm",
"word": "befon"
},
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"word": "befang"
}
],
"lang": "Middle English",
"lang_code": "enm",
"word": "*befangen"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "be",
"3": "fōn"
},
"expansion": "be- + fōn",
"name": "prefix"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "osx",
"2": "bifāhan"
},
"expansion": "Old Saxon bifāhan",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "bifāhan"
},
"expansion": "Old High German bifāhan",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "bifā"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian bifā",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From be- + fōn. Cognate with Old Saxon bifāhan, Old High German bifāhan, Old Frisian bifā. See fang.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "befōn",
"tags": [
"canonical"
]
},
{
"form": "strong",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"table-tags"
]
},
{
"form": "ang-conj",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"inflection-template"
]
},
{
"form": "VII",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"class"
]
},
{
"form": "befōn",
"links": [
[
"befōn",
"befon#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"infinitive"
]
},
{
"form": "befōnne",
"links": [
[
"befōnne",
"befonne#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"infinitive"
]
},
{
"form": "befō",
"links": [
[
"befō",
"befo#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"first-person",
"present",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēng",
"links": [
[
"befēng",
"befeng#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"first-person",
"past",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēhst",
"links": [
[
"befēhst",
"befehst#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"present",
"second-person",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēnge",
"links": [
[
"befēnge",
"befenge#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"second-person",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēhþ",
"links": [
[
"befēhþ",
"befehþ#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "befēng",
"links": [
[
"befēng",
"befeng#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "befōþ",
"links": [
[
"befōþ",
"befoþ#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"plural",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befēngon",
"links": [
[
"befēngon",
"befengon#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "befō",
"links": [
[
"befō",
"befo#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēnge",
"links": [
[
"befēnge",
"befenge#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befōn",
"links": [
[
"befōn",
"befon#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"plural",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befēngen",
"links": [
[
"befēngen",
"befengen#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "befōh",
"links": [
[
"befōh",
"befoh#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"past",
"present",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befōþ",
"links": [
[
"befōþ",
"befoþ#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"past",
"plural",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befōnde",
"links": [
[
"befōnde",
"befonde#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befangen",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "befōn"
},
"expansion": "befōn",
"name": "ang-verb"
}
],
"inflection_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "befōn<s7>"
},
"name": "ang-conj"
}
],
"lang": "Old English",
"lang_code": "ang",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "28 46 26",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Old English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "24 39 37",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Old English terms prefixed with be-",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"to comprehend, grasp; begrip, take hold of, catch"
],
"id": "en-befon-ang-verb-tT3jpCk5",
"links": [
[
"comprehend",
"comprehend"
],
[
"grasp",
"grasp"
],
[
"begrip",
"begrip"
],
[
"take hold",
"take hold"
],
[
"catch",
"catch"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "24 39 37",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Old English terms prefixed with be-",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"english": "Asia is surrounded by...the southern and northern and eastern sea...",
"text": "late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans\nAsia is befangen mid...þǣm gārseċġe sūþan ⁊ norþan ⁊ eastan...",
"translation": "Asia is surrounded by...the southern and northern and eastern sea...",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"to surround, encompass; beset, encircle, enwrap, clothe, receive, conceive, inhold"
],
"id": "en-befon-ang-verb-pOXgdO-~",
"links": [
[
"surround",
"surround"
],
[
"encompass",
"encompass"
],
[
"beset",
"beset"
],
[
"encircle",
"encircle"
],
[
"enwrap",
"enwrap"
],
[
"clothe",
"clothe"
],
[
"receive",
"receive"
],
[
"conceive",
"conceive"
],
[
"inhold",
"inhold"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/beˈfoːn/"
}
],
"word": "befon"
}
{
"categories": [
"Old English class 7 strong contracted verbs",
"Old English class 7 strong verbs",
"Old English entries with incorrect language header",
"Old English lemmas",
"Old English terms prefixed with be-",
"Old English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"Old English verbs",
"Pages with 2 entries",
"Pages with entries"
],
"descendants": [
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"word": "befang"
}
],
"lang": "Middle English",
"lang_code": "enm",
"word": "bifon"
},
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"word": "befang"
}
],
"lang": "Middle English",
"lang_code": "enm",
"word": "befon"
},
{
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"word": "befang"
}
],
"lang": "Middle English",
"lang_code": "enm",
"word": "*befangen"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "ang",
"2": "be",
"3": "fōn"
},
"expansion": "be- + fōn",
"name": "prefix"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "osx",
"2": "bifāhan"
},
"expansion": "Old Saxon bifāhan",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "goh",
"2": "bifāhan"
},
"expansion": "Old High German bifāhan",
"name": "cog"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "ofs",
"2": "bifā"
},
"expansion": "Old Frisian bifā",
"name": "cog"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From be- + fōn. Cognate with Old Saxon bifāhan, Old High German bifāhan, Old Frisian bifā. See fang.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "befōn",
"tags": [
"canonical"
]
},
{
"form": "strong",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"table-tags"
]
},
{
"form": "ang-conj",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"inflection-template"
]
},
{
"form": "VII",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"class"
]
},
{
"form": "befōn",
"links": [
[
"befōn",
"befon#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"infinitive"
]
},
{
"form": "befōnne",
"links": [
[
"befōnne",
"befonne#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"infinitive"
]
},
{
"form": "befō",
"links": [
[
"befō",
"befo#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"first-person",
"present",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēng",
"links": [
[
"befēng",
"befeng#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"first-person",
"past",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēhst",
"links": [
[
"befēhst",
"befehst#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"present",
"second-person",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēnge",
"links": [
[
"befēnge",
"befenge#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"second-person",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēhþ",
"links": [
[
"befēhþ",
"befehþ#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "befēng",
"links": [
[
"befēng",
"befeng#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "befōþ",
"links": [
[
"befōþ",
"befoþ#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"plural",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befēngon",
"links": [
[
"befēngon",
"befengon#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "befō",
"links": [
[
"befō",
"befo#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befēnge",
"links": [
[
"befēnge",
"befenge#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befōn",
"links": [
[
"befōn",
"befon#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"plural",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befēngen",
"links": [
[
"befēngen",
"befengen#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"past",
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "befōh",
"links": [
[
"befōh",
"befoh#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"past",
"present",
"singular"
]
},
{
"form": "befōþ",
"links": [
[
"befōþ",
"befoþ#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"past",
"plural",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befōnde",
"links": [
[
"befōnde",
"befonde#Old_English"
]
],
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "befangen",
"source": "conjugation",
"tags": [
"imperative",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "befōn"
},
"expansion": "befōn",
"name": "ang-verb"
}
],
"inflection_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "befōn<s7>"
},
"name": "ang-conj"
}
],
"lang": "Old English",
"lang_code": "ang",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"to comprehend, grasp; begrip, take hold of, catch"
],
"links": [
[
"comprehend",
"comprehend"
],
[
"grasp",
"grasp"
],
[
"begrip",
"begrip"
],
[
"take hold",
"take hold"
],
[
"catch",
"catch"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"Old English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"english": "Asia is surrounded by...the southern and northern and eastern sea...",
"text": "late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans\nAsia is befangen mid...þǣm gārseċġe sūþan ⁊ norþan ⁊ eastan...",
"translation": "Asia is surrounded by...the southern and northern and eastern sea...",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"to surround, encompass; beset, encircle, enwrap, clothe, receive, conceive, inhold"
],
"links": [
[
"surround",
"surround"
],
[
"encompass",
"encompass"
],
[
"beset",
"beset"
],
[
"encircle",
"encircle"
],
[
"enwrap",
"enwrap"
],
[
"clothe",
"clothe"
],
[
"receive",
"receive"
],
[
"conceive",
"conceive"
],
[
"inhold",
"inhold"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/beˈfoːn/"
}
],
"word": "befon"
}
Download raw JSONL data for befon meaning in Old English (5.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Old English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.