bespeak
/bɪˈspiːk/
"bespeak" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bespeak” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To speak about; tell of; relate; discuss.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bespeak · bespeak · English
bespeak · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bespeak |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɪˈspiːk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bespeak” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bespeak is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /bɪˈspiːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.
bespeak doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bespeken, bispeken, from Old English *bespecan, besprecan (“to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisprekan (“to discuss, blame”), from Proto-Germanic *bisprekaną (“to speak about, … The correct English form is bespeak, spelled B-E-S-P-E-A-K.
Definition
- 1To speak about; tell of; relate; discuss.
- 2To speak for beforehand; engage in advance; make arrangements for; order or reserve in advance.
- 3To stipulate, solicit, ask for, or request, as in a favour.
- 4To forbode; foretell.
- 5To speak to; address.
- 6To betoken; show; indicate; depict; foretell; suggest; allude to.
- 7To speak up or out; exclaim; speak.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bespeak appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[They] bespoke dangers […] in order to scare the allies.
concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favour
Etymology
From Middle English bespeken, bispeken, from Old English *bespecan, besprecan (“to speak about, speak against, accuse of, claim at law, complain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisprekan (“to discuss, blame”), from Proto-Germanic *bisprekaną (“to speak about, discuss, blame”), equivalent to be- + speak. Cognate with Scots bespeke (“to beseech, speak or negotiate with”), Saterland Frisian bispreke (“to discuss”), West Frisian besprekke (“to discuss”), Dutch bespreken (“to discuss, review, debate”), German besprechen (“to discuss, review, talk about”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.