To curse at or invoke bad luck upon someone in a mild or jocular way; to call down misfortune on someone.
From the prefix 'be-' combined with 'shrew,' an archaic term meaning to curse or bewitch. The 'be-' intensifies the cursing action. Shrew itself comes from Old English 'screawa,' relating to a harmful creature or bad luck.
Shakespeare used 'beshrew' all the time as a dramatic but playful curse—like saying 'curse you!' but in a way that's theatrical and not quite serious, which is why Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing uses it for witty insults.
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