▪ I. bewray, v. arch.
(bɪˈreɪ)
Forms: 4 by-, bewreie(n, bywryghen, biwray, 4–5 bi-, by-, bewrey(e, 4–6 by-, bewrie, -ye, 4–7 bewraie, -ye, 6– bewray.
[ME. bewreien, f. be- + wreien: see wray. Probably more or less of a conscious archaism since the 17th c.; the ordinary modern equivalent is expose.]
Always trans.
† 1. To accuse, malign, speak evil of. Obs.
| c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 3379 Ac biwrayed þou war to me, & þerfore haue he maugre..Þat ouȝt sigge bot gode of þe. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3879 Wikkid-Tunge hath custome ay, Yonge folkis to bewreye. |
† 2. To expose (a person), by divulging his secrets, or telling something that one knows to his discredit or harm. Hence passing into, To expose or reveal (the unknown doer of an act.) Obs. or arch.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 4116 That ye no schal me bywryghen Of that Y wol to yow sayn. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1336 Alle the sothe sche gan hem say, And bad hem nought hir biwray. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 34 Bewrethyn, or wreyyn [1499 bewreyen], prodo, recelo, revelo. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 36 They were of my next kynne · whom gladly I wold not bewraye. 1510 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xiv. E iv b, Say nat this now and bewrye me nat. 1587 Fleming Cont. Holinshed III. 1321/2 That who so would bewraie the dooers thereof, should haue fortie crownes for their labour. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 7 For feare to be enforced by torments to bewray his confederates. |
† b. To expose (a deception). Obs.
| 1548 Udall, etc., Erasm. Par. Pref. 11 In bewraiyng the iugleyng sleightes. a 1601 Nowell in Strype Ann. Ref. I. i. xxxix. 451 Finding therein certain notable untruths..he did bewray them to the auditors. |
3. To divulge or reveal (secrets) prejudicially.
| c 1386 Chaucer 2nd Nun's T. 147 A conseil..Which that night fayn I wolde vn to yow seye So that ye swere ye shul it nat biwreye. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 182 (2nd vers.), Happely..thou woldest be-wreye my counsaile. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. cxxi. [cxvii.] 345 None shulde issue out to bewray their entreprice. 1599 Pass. Pilgr. 352 Yet will she blush..To hear her secrets so bewray'd. 1600 Dekker Fortun. 109 The talke of kings none dare bewray. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiv, Villain!..thou wouldst not bewray our counsel? |
† 4. Less specifically: To reveal, divulge, disclose, declare, make known, show. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 226 Ne dorste he nat to hire his wo biwreye. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy. i. ii, His entent there can no man bewreye. c 1500 Dunbar Tua mariit Wem. 41 Bewrie, said the Wedo, ȝe weddit wemen ȝing Quhat mirth ȝe fand in maryage. 1576 Thynne Ld. Burghley's Crest 218 The horn'd Diana chaste, is silver brighte Whiche waninge moone dothe unto us bewraye. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iv. 3 Write downe thy mind, bewray thy meaning so. 1611 Bible Prov. xxix. 24 Hee heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not. |
† 5. To reveal the presence of, or expose (a fugitive) to his enemies, or to justice; to betray. Obs.
| 1535 Coverdale Isa. xvi. 3 Bewraye [Wyclif, betraȝe; 1611 bewray] not them that are fled. 1548 Hall Chron. in Ellis Orig. Lett. iii. I. 100 He..bewrayed his guest and master to John Milton then sherif of Shropshire. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 65 He was bewrayed unto them. |
6. To reveal, expose, discover (unintentionally, and usually what it is intended to conceal); = betray 6. a. the existence or presence of (something).
| 1579 Lyly Euphues (1636) D vj, Thy hot words bewray thy heauy wrath. 1611 Bible Prov. xxvii. 16 The ointment of his right hand which bewrayeth it selfe. 1644 Bulwer Chirol. 2 The blushes of Aurora bewray the early approach of the bright Emperour of the day. 1738 Wesley Psalms xxxvi. 1 My heart to every Vice inclin'd, The Sinner's closest Sin bewrays. a 1849 H. Coleridge Ess. & Marg. (1851) II. 168 A smoke and a crackling that bewrayed the ligneous and carbonaceous quality of the fuel. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. xii. 311 The mental bias in every writer will casually bewray itself. |
b. the true character of.
| 1535 Coverdale Matt. xxvi. 73 Thy speach bewrayeth the. 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 395 A mans speech and gesture will bewray his thoughts. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iii. ix. 79 The extremity of his feare bewrayed his intent. 1645 Milton Colast. Wks. (1851) 345 His very first page notoriously bewraies him an illiterat and arrogant presumer. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. App. (1876) 610 A touchstone to bewray the half-learned. |
c. a fact (expressed by a clause).
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. iii. 95 Our raiment And state of bodies would bewray what life We haue led since thy exile. 1649 R. Hodges Plain Direct. 27 The childe did bewray, that hee would beray himself. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. x, Your very speech bewrays you to be a right Balaam. |
† 7. To exhibit incidentally; = betray 7. Obs.
| 1575 Laneham's Let. (1871) 56 Nothing more bewraying hiz age then hiz wit. 1600 Tourneur Transf. Metam. To Rdr. 14 This Pluto-visag'd world hell doth bewray. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 106 O foole, which yesterday Might'st have read more than all thy books bewray. 1763 Kames Elem. Crit. II. xii. 43 He never once bewrays a smile. |
▪ II. bewray
erroneous form of beray.