To make damp, wet, or moist; to dampen thoroughly.
From 'be-' prefix plus 'damp' (from Middle Low German 'damp,' meaning vapor or steam). The prefix 'be-' creates an intensified verb meaning to thoroughly dampen something.
Bedamp would have been used to describe anything getting thoroughly soaked or made damp—like how morning dew would bedamp the grass, or tears would bedamp someone's cheeks. It's more poetic and emphatic than just saying 'damp' or 'dampen.'
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