Past participle of 'bestride'; standing over something in a commanding way or having straddled something.
From Old English 'bestridan.' The past participle 'bestridden' follows the strong verb pattern where internal vowel changes mark different tenses, similar to 'ride/rode/ridden.'
This word is rarely used today, but it appears in famous passages like Shakespeare's Julius Caesar describing Caesar as someone who 'bestrides the narrow world.' The change from 'id' to 'idden' mirrors how English marks completed actions in powerful verbs.
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