A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1499-1599
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Besene, Besein, p.p. and a. Also: beseine, beseyn(e. [ME. besene, besein, etc., p.p. of be-se ‘besee’, see to, provide, etc.] Furnished, arrayed, dressed; equipped. (See also Wele besene.)Chiefly in poetry as a rhyme-word. a1500 Henr. Test. Cress. 416.
Quhair is thy chalmer wantounlie besene? c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Targe 250.
In quhite and rede was all the felde besene c1500-c1512 Id. xlviii. 46.
Full hestely besene In serk and mantill 1513 Doug. iii. ix. 7.
I ne saw … sa wrachitly beseyn a wy a1540 Freiris Berw. 20 (M).
The castell … most fair, most gudlie, and all thair best be-sene 15.. Clariodus i. 669.
Fair Mandonet was lustilie beseine, In clothing as effeirit to ane queine 1553 Misc. Wodrow Soc. 150.
Sua that thay … ar reknit to be … best besene in Scripturis
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Besene p.p., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/besene>
