To encircle, surround, or gird about with something; to bind or secure around.
From 'be-' (Old English causative prefix) + 'gird' (Old English 'gyrdan,' from Proto-Germanic 'gurtilan'). Common in Middle and Early Modern English, now archaic.
'Begird' shows the power of Old English 'be-'—it made verbs that meant 'to cause all around,' so 'begird' meant to gird completely around something, like wrapping it in a belt.
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