To make late or cause to be delayed; to arrive or cause something to arrive after the expected time.
From 'be-' (intensive prefix) plus 'late' (from Old English læt, meaning 'slow'). This follows the pattern of turning an adjective into a verb that intensifies or enforces that quality.
English speakers of Middle English could transform almost any adjective into an intensive verb with 'be-'—'belate' your arrival, 'becloud' the issue, 'bedim' the light. It's a lost superpower in modern English!
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