To treat someone with pity or to cover with pity; an archaic or rare form meaning to regard or act toward someone with compassionate concern.
From the prefix 'be-' (meaning to cover or affect) combined with 'pity' (from Old French 'pité'). The 'be-' prefix was commonly used in Middle English to create verbs from nouns and adjectives, as in 'befriend' or 'besmirch'.
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