Archaic form meaning in good time, early, or seasonably; promptly or before the expected moment.
From Middle English 'betimes,' originally 'be' + 'time,' meaning 'by time' or 'in time.' The singular 'betime' is less common than the plural-looking 'betimes,' but both derive from the same etymology.
The word 'betimes' appears in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'—'the funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables'—and its archaic sound mirrors how time itself feels distant and old when we talk about the past.
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