bestow

Definition

To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use.

Etymology

PIE word *h₁epi The verb is derived from Middle English bestowen, bistouen, bistowen (“to give, bestow; to apply (something to something else); to arrange or have control over (something); to place (someone) in a position; to use (for some purpose); (reflexive) to find (oneself) a place to live or shelter”) [and other forms], from bi- (prefix forming verbs, often with a completive, figurative, or intensive meaning) + stouen, stowen (“to pack (cargo) in a ship, stow; to place (someone) in a certain position; to provide quarters for, lodge; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to place; to stand (up)”)). The English word is analysable as be- (intensifying prefix forming verbs) + stow (“to put (something) away in a suitable place; etc.”). The noun is derived from the verb.

Example Sentences

• "All the voide time, that is betwene the huores of woorke ſlepe and meat, that they be ſuffered to beſtowe, euerye man as he lyketh beſte hym ſelfe."
• "[S]ince the voyce / Of moſt ſupreme Authority commands / My abſence: I determine to beſtovv / Some time in learning Languages abroad; […]"
• "Richmond, thy purling ſtreams and pleaſing ſhades, / Might claim the chorus of Aonian maids; / VVhere e’en Apollo might his hours beſtovv, / By turns employ his lyre, by turns his bovv, / VVhere all the pleaſures dvvell, vvhich poets feign / On fair Arcadia’s fields or Tempe’s plain."

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