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/bɪspˈik/ Listen

verb

Bespeak v. t. (past bespoke, archaic bespake; past part. bespoken; pres. part. bespeaking)

To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. "Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favor."

To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate. "(They) bespoke dangers... in order to scare the allies."

To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or appearances. "When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespoke him rather a monster."

To speak to; to address. (Poetic) "He thus the queen bespoke."

Bespeak v. i. (past bespoke, archaic bespake; past part. bespoken; pres. part. bespeaking) To speak. (Obs.)

noun

Bespeak n. A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.) "The night of her bespeak."

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Etymology of 'Bespeak'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Bespeak" Quotes from Famous Books

... ladies (opens them). This from Melesinda, to remind me of the morning-call I promised; the pretty creature positively languishes to be made Mrs. H. I believe I must indulge her (affectedly). This from her cousin, to bespeak me to some party, I suppose (opening it),—Oh, "this evening"—"Tea and cards"—(surveying himself with complacency). Dear H., thou art certainly a pretty fellow. I wonder what makes thee such a favorite among the ladies: I ...

— The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 • Charles Lamb

... The literature of Europe sufficiently corroborates this remark. When a European author wishes to depict in a work of imagination any of these great catastrophes in matrimony which so frequently occur amongst us, he takes care to bespeak the compassion of the reader by bringing before him ill-assorted or compulsory marriages. Although habitual tolerance has long since relaxed our morals, an author could hardly succeed in interesting us ...

— Democracy In America, Volume 2 (of 2) • Alexis de Tocqueville

... It was evening, toward the end of winter, the shades of twilight had already fallen, and Edward found himself suddenly in a room quite illuminated with wax candles. D'Effernay stood in the middle of the saloon, a tall, thin young man. A proud bearing seemed to bespeak a consciousness of his own merit, or at least of his position. His features were finely formed, but the traces of strong passion, or of internal discontent, ...

— The International Weekly Miscellany, Volume I. No. 9. - Of Literature, Art, and Science, August 26, 1850 • Various

... of the Island. The Original of the Chingulays. Wild Men. Who pay an acknowledgement to the King. How they bespeak Arrows to be made them. They rob the Carriers. Hourly wild Men Trade with the People. Once made to serve the King in his War. Their Habit and Religion. A skirmish about their Bounds. Curious in their Arrows. How they preserve their Flesh. How they take Elephants. The Dowries they give. ...

— An Historical Relation Of The Island Ceylon In The East Indies • Robert Knox

... expected that some would be killed,—that death would be better than such imprisonment; and, with that look and tone which bespeak an indomitable purpose, they declared that not a man should leave the hall alive till the flogging was remitted. At this period of the discussion their evil passions seemed to be more inflamed, and one or two offered to destroy the officer, who still stood ...

— McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader • William Holmes McGuffey

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