▪ I. † belie, v.1 Obs.
(bɪˈlaɪ)
Forms: 1 belicᵹan, 2–3 biliggen, 5 ? belye. pa. tense 1 belæᵹ, 2–3 bilæi, -lai, 3–5 bi-, by-, be-lay(e. pa. pple. 1 beleᵹen, 3–4 bi-, by-, beleyn, -layn(e, -lay(e, 7 beely'd.
[OE. bi-, be-licᵹan = OHG. biligan, hilikan, MHG. biligen, Ger. beliegen, f. bi-, be- about + ligan, in OE. licᵹan to lie.]
1. trans. To lie around, encompass.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. (Grein) 229 Sio ea Ethiopia land beliᵹeð uton. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxiv, Dimmed with skyes foule..with tempest all be-layne. 1627 May Lucan iii. (1631) 219 From Pholoe Beely'd with Centaures. |
2. spec. To lie with an army round, to beleaguer.
| a 1000 ælfric Joshua vii. 9 Hi belicᵹaþ us mid fyrde. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 51 Þe king..bilai þe burh ierusalem. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 5378 He was belayn in that cite. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 4483 Now haþ þe A[meral] by-leyn hem þer. |
3. To lie with (carnally).
| c 1325 Cœur de L. 1119 Hys daughtyr that was bylayn. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 328, I slew my fader, and syn bylay my moder. |
4. intr. To lie near; to pertain or belong to; impers. it is pertinent or proper.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 15 Þe six werkes of þesternesse þe biliȝe to nihte. Ibid. 61 Þe habbeð þo sinnes don þe bi⁓liggeð to here shrifte. 1387 Trevisa Higden (1865) I. 147 Þerto [to Cappadocia] be-lyeþ Cilicia. a 1400 Old Usages Winchester in T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 350 Also twey coroners by-lyth that ther be in Wynchestre. 1522 World & Child in Hazl. Dodsl. I. 258 Covet..no good that him be-lith. |
▪ II. belie, v.2
(bɪˈlaɪ)
Forms: 1 beléoᵹan, 2–3 -leoȝen, 4–7 belye, 6–8 -ly, 6 -belie. pa. tense 1 beléaᵹ, 6– belied. pa. pple. 1 beloᵹen, 3–4 belowen, 6– belied.
[OE. beléoᵹan = OFris. biliuga, OHG. biliugan to lie about, f. bi-, be- + OE. léoᵹan = Gothic liugan to lie, tell lies. Originally, like the simple lie, a strong vb., but rare exc. in present in ME.]
Always trans.
† 1. To deceive by lying. Obs.
| a 1000 Gregory's Dial. (Bosw.) i. 14 Beloᵹen beon, falli. |
2. To tell lies about; esp. to calumniate by false statements.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 68 Þe treowe is misleued, and te sakelease ofte bilowen, uor wone of witnesse. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. ii. 22 She hath..ylakked my lemman, and bilowen hire to lordes. Ibid. v. 414, I haue leuere..lesynges to laughe at and belye my neighbore. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 96 He belyeth me falsely. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 490 Wherein you doe unhonestlye slaunder him and belye him, without cause. 1667 Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 396 Saying that he had belied him to our King. 1762 Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) IV. lxiv. 762 It was rendered criminal to belie the subjects of the king. 1876 Holland Sev. Oaks xv. 213, I think she is shamefully belied. |
† b. to belie the truth. Obs.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 22 Þei lede lordes with lesynges and bilyeth treuthe. 1635 Austin Medit. 123 The Judge of Heaven is judg'd; the Truth be-lide. |
† 3. To assert or allege falsely, or with a lie.
| 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) 123 He belyed hymselfe to be the Prophet of God. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 110 b, Whiche..is most falsely belyed upon him. 1659 Milton Hirelings Wks. 1738 I. 570 To belye divine Authority, to make the name of Christ accessory to Violence. |
4. To give a false representation or account of, to misrepresent; to present in a false character.
| 1601 Cornwallyes Ess. xxii, It is a strange thing how men bely themselves: every one speaks well, and meanes noughtily. 1649 Milton Eikon. 143 He a declar'd Papist, If his own letter to the Pope belye him not. 1709 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. lxiv. II. 106, I know not..how much my face may belie my heart. 1814 Byron Lara i. xxi, His brow belied him if his soul was sad. 1851 Kingsley Yeast xv. You are an Englishman..unless your physiognomy belies you. |
| absol. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus x. 16 They grow quantities, if report belies not. |
† b. To disguise (a person or thing) so as to make it appear something else. Obs.
| 1711 Pope Temple F. 154 His hornéd head bely'd the Libian God. a 1725 ― Odyss. iv. 618 A boar's obscener shape the god belies. 1810 Cromek Nithsd. & Galloway Song App. (1880) 225 To belie the form of God in the unholy semblance of cats. |
† c. To assume falsely the character of; to counterfeit. Obs. rare.
| a 1700 Dryden (J.) Durst, with horses hoofs that beat the ground, And martial brass, belie the thunder's sound. |
† 5. To give the lie to, call false, contradict as a lie or a liar; to reject as false, deny the truth of.
| 1577 Holinshed Chron. III. 1158/1 This that I haue said, I will stand vnto, for I will neuer beelie my selfe. 1611 Bible Jer. v. 12 They haue belyed the Lord, and said; It is not he. 1626 T. H. tr. Caussin's Holy Crt. 21, I will not be-lye the law of my Maister. 1649 Alcoran 45 If they bely thee, know, they belyed the Prophets that were before thee. |
6. To call (a thing) false practically, to treat it as false by speaking or acting at variance with it; to be false or faithless to.
| 1698 Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 27 If a Man..does not appear to bely his Discourse by his Practice. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 356 Who in his last acts does not wish to belye the tenour of his life. 1810 Shelley Q. Mab 22 Those who dare belie Their human nature. 1868 G. Duff Pol. Surv. 196 Her life as a nation will not belie her great gifts as a country. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. viii. 207 But..he grossly belied his faith. |
7. To show to be false, prove false or mistaken; to falsify (expectations, etc.).
| 1685 tr. Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 7 It is the victory of an able man to correct, or at least bely the censure. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 714 Novels..Belie their name, and offer nothing new. 1833 H. Martineau Tale of Tyne iii. 53 There was..a quaver of the voice which belied what he said. 1857 Buckle Civilis. vi. 296 The subsequent actions of Arthur did not belie his supernatural origin. |
† 8. ? To fill with lies. Obs. rare.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. iv. 38 'Tis Slander..whose breath Rides on the posting windes, and doth belye All corners of the World. |