Adjacent Words

betimes definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adv
1: in good time; "he awoke betimes that morning" [syn: early, betimes]

Merriam Webster's

adverb Date: 13th century 1. in good time ; early 2. archaic in a short time ; speedily 3. at times ; occasionally

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adv. literary early; in good time. Etymology: ME f. obs. betime (as BY, TIME)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Betime Be*time", Betimes Be*times", adv. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.] 1. In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. To measure life learn thou betimes. --Milton. To rise betimes is often harder than to do all the day's work. --Barrow. 2. In a short time; soon; speedily; forth with. He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes. --Shak.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

be-timz': In the sense of "early" is the translation of two Hebrew words:

(1) shakham, a root meaning "to incline the shoulder to a load," hence "to load up," "start early": in Ge 26:31 "they rose up betimes in the morning," also in 2Ch 36:15 (the American Standard Revised Version "early");

(2) of shachar, a root meaning "to dawn" in Job 8:5; 24:5, the American Standard Revised Version "diligently," and in Pro 13:24, "chasteneth him betimes."

In the Apocrypha (Sirach 6:36) "betimes" is the translation of orthizo, literally, "to rise early in the morning," while in Bel and the Dragon verse 16 the same word is translated "betime."

In other cases the King James Version "betimes" appears as "before the time" (Sirach 51:30); "early" (1 Macc 4:52; 11:67); "the mourning" (1 Macc 5:30).

Arthur J. Kinsella

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

ad. See betime

Moby Thesaurus

after a while, ahead, ahead of time, anon, at times, before, before long, beforehand, beforetime, by and by, directly, early, ere long, ever and again, ever and anon, foresightedly, here and there, in a moment, in a while, in advance, in anticipation, in due course, in due time, now and again, now and then, once and again, oversoon, precociously, prematurely, presently, seasonably, shortly, soon, timely