An archaic or poetic way to call someone by a particular name or to rename someone.
From the 'be-' prefix combined with 'name,' literally meaning 'to cause to have a name.' This construction was productive in Middle English but largely fell out of use by the 1700s.
This word shows that 'be-' prefixes were once a living, creative part of English—writers would add 'be-' to almost any noun or adjective to create vivid verbs, though only a few survived!
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