bethink
Americanverb (used with object)
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to think; consider (used reflexively).
He bethought himself a moment.
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to remind (oneself ).
to bethink oneself of family obligations.
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to remember; recall (used reflexively).
She lives in the past now, bethinking herself of happier days.
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to determine; resolve.
Under the circumstances I could not otherwise bethink me.
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Archaic. to bear in mind; remember.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to cause (oneself) to consider or meditate
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to remind (oneself)
Etymology
Origin of bethink
before 1000; Middle English bethenken, Old English bethencan. See be-, think 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet many readers will bethink themselves of many Cynthias and wonder if it is too late, or just timely, to pass the book along.
From Time Magazine Archive
But the head of the French department did not bethink himself in time to procure a bust of Ronsard to be duly "crowned," during the ceremony.
From Time Magazine Archive
When a New Englander needs an image for swarming bees he may not bethink him of showered stars, yet sparks from a Fourth of July pinwheel are quite as effective and wholly permissible.
From Time Magazine Archive
But here, in trunk-upsetting Boston, I bethink me, and confess.
From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Howe, Julia Ward
My poor Francesco," said he "bethink thee that I have had a life of controversy, and am sick on't, sick as death.
From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Reade, Charles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
