To wake up or awaken; to rouse someone from sleep or unconsciousness.
From 'be-' plus 'wake,' where the prefix intensifies or marks the completion of the action. This is an archaic or obsolete form in modern English, largely superseded by 'awake' and 'wake up.'
Old English and Middle English had 'be-' versions of many verbs, but most were replaced by simpler forms or by the prefix 'a-' (as in 'awake'). The 'be-' prefix gradually fell out of fashion for new words but never completely disappeared.
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