† beˈwist(e, biwist(e Obs.
Also 1 biᵹwist, 3 biwest, buwist, beowust, beoust, bywist(e, -wyste.
[OE. ˈb{iacu}wist, fem., f. bi-, be- 1 + wist ‘being’ = OS., OHG., wist, Goth. wists:—OTeut. *wisti-z ‘being,’ f. wesan to be. ˈB{iacu}wist is the n. answering to a vb. *bi-ˈwesan; cf. Goth. bi-wisan to be together, to feast, make merry, f. bi-, be- 1 + wesan to be, remain. This word survived longest in the north; in later times the stress was shifted to the root-syllable, as in verbal be- compounds; cf. behote, beot, etc. With the senses cf. being.]
1. Food, provision, victual, a living.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xvii, He habban sceal þam þrym ᵹeferscipum biwiste. c 1000 ælfric Oswald in Saints' Lives (Sweet Reader 102/228) He wolde..him biᵹwiste syllan. |
2. State or condition of life.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 133 Oðer [his] he[r] biwist. Ibid. 167 Þis holi man [Job] hadde þre biwistes. c 1205 Lay. 17809 Lauerd hu mid þe {revsc} hu beoð þine beouste. a 1300 Cursor M. 13832 He hates to cum to vr bewist. |
3. Abiding, dwelling, sojourn, living.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 149 Wumme..þat min biwist is teȝed here swo longe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 160 He was isuiled þuruh beouste [MS. T. ifuled þurh bewiste] among men. |
4. Dwelling-place, abode, habitation.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Ðis woreldes biwest is efned to wastene. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 69 To heuen, that bese thi beste bewyste. c 1375 Barbour St. Cristofore 269 Hame he passit til his bewist. ― St. Catharine 1118. |