Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Besom |
BesomNoun1. A broom made of twigs tied together on a long handle. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "besom" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1591. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Bible | Besom the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning sweeper, occurs only in Isa. 14:23, of the sweeping away, the utter ruin, of Babylon. Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Literature | Besom To hang out the besom. To have a fling when your wife is gone on a visit. To be a quasi bachelor once more. Taking this in connection with the following phrase, it evidently means, holding the marriage service in abeyance. "This is French argot. Rotir le balai (to burn the besom) means to live the life of a libertine, whence balochard, Paris slang for a libertine. Probably our phrase, "burn the bellows," is pretty much the same as rotir le balai. Jumping the besom. Omitting the marriage service after the publication of banns, and living together as man and wife. In Southern Scotch, a street-walker is called a besom, and in French balai (a besom) means the life of a libertine, as Rôtir le balai; Il ont bien rôti le balai ensemble, where balai means a debauch or something worse. No further explanation can be needed or could be given. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Sports & Leisure | The broom, or brush, used for sweeping. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Cleanness | Brush; broom, besom, mop, rake, shovel, sieve, riddle, screen, filter; blotter. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Besom |
| English words defined with "besom": Besomed, Besomer ♦ Scopiform. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "besom": hassock. (references) |
| "Besom" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 87.50% of the time. "Besom" is used about 8 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 87.5% | 7 | 133,076 |
| Noun (proper) | 12.5% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 8 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
besom | 12 |
besom make | 3 |
besom callejon del guanajuato picture | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "besom"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | fshesë shqope. (various references) | |
Arabic | كنس (broom, rake, scavenge, sweep, sweeping, whisk), مكنسة (broom, mop, sweeper). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | метла (broom). (various references) | |
Czech | metla (scourge, whisk), koštì (broom, whisk). (various references) | |
French | balayer, balai de bouleau, balai. (various references) | |
German | besen (besoms, broom, brooms, brush, whisk). (various references) | |
Greek | σκούπα (broom, brush). (various references) | |
Hungarian | vesszõseprû. (various references) | |
Italian | scopa (broom, mop). (various references) | |
Manx | skeab (broom). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | esombay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vassoura (broom). (various references) | |
Romanian | târnui (belabour), târn, mãturã de nuiele. (various references) | |
Russian | веник (short brush of bound straw), метла (broom, broomstick). (various references) | |
Scottish | sguab (a broom or besom, brush, sweep). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | metla (broom). (various references) | |
Spanish | escoba (broom, broomstick, brush, sweeper). (various references) | |
Swedish | sopkvast (broom). (various references) | |
Turkish | çalı süpürgesi (broom made from heath, whisk). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | шльондра (jade, whore, witch), мітла (broom), мести (broom). (various references) | |
Welsh | ysgubell (broom). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Isaiah Chapter 14, Verse 23 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai qhsw thn babulwnian erhmon wste katoikein ecinouV kai estai eiV ouden kai qhsw authn phlou baraqron eiV apwleian |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et ponam eam in possessionem ericii et in paludes aquarum et scopabo eam in scopa terens dicit Dominus exercituum |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | I shal putte it in to the possessioun of an irchoun, and in to myres of watres; and I shal sweepen it in a besme, treding, seith the Lord of ostes. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And I will make you a heritage for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will go through it with the brush of destruction, says the Lord of armies. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Isaiah Chapter 14, Verse 23 |
| Cebuano | Pagahimoon ko usab nga ang baboy nga tunokon maoy manag-iya niini, ug sa mga linaw sa tubig: ug kini pagasilhigan ko sa silhig sa kalaglagan, nagaingon si Jehova sa mga panon. |
| Croatian | Dat æu ga u posjed ježevima i moèvarama. Pomest æu ga metlom zatornom - rijeè je Jahve nad Vojskama. |
| Danish | jeg gør det til Rørdrummers Eje og til side Sumpe; jeg fejer det bort med Undergangens Kost, lyder det fra Hærskarers HERRE. |
| Dutch | En Ik zal hen stellen tot een erve der nachtuilen, en tot waterpoelen; en Ik zal hen met een bezem des verderfs uitvagen, spreekt de HEERE der heirscharen. |
| Finnish | Minä teen sen tuonenkurkien perinnöksi ja vesirämeeksi, minä lakaisen sen pois hävityksen luudalla, sanoo Herra Sebaot. |
| French | J`en ferai le gîte du hérisson et un marécage, Et je la balaierai avec le balai de la destruction, Dit l`Éternel des armées. |
| German | und will Babel machen zum Erbe der Igel und zum Wassersumpf und will sie mit einem Besen des Verderbens kehren, spricht der HERR Zebaoth. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Babel akan Kujadikan rawa-rawa yang didiami burung hantu. Babel akan Kusapu bersih. Aku, TUHAN Yang Mahakuasa, telah berbicara." |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka Kujadikan dia bahagian pusaka landak dan akan paya, dan Kusapukan dia kelak dengan penyapu kebinasaan, demikianlah firman Tuhan serwa sekalian alam. |
| Maori | Ka meinga ano a reira e ahau hei kainga mo te matuku, hei harotoroto wai; ka purumatia ano e ahau ki te puruma o te whakangaromanga, e ai ta Ihowa o nga mano. |
| Norwegian | Og jeg vil gjøre det til et hjem for pinnsvin og fylle det med vannpytter, og jeg vil feie det bort med ødeleggelsens feiekost, sier Herren, hærskarenes Gud. |
| Portuguese | E reduzi-la-ei a uma possessão do ouriço, e a lagoas de águas; e varrê-la-ei com a vassoura da destruição, diz o Senhor dos exércitos. |
| Rumanian | ,,Voi face din el un culcuw de arici wi o mlawtinq, wi kl voi mqtura cu mqtura nimicirii,`` zice Domnul owtirilor. |
| Swedish | Och jag skall göra det till ett tillhåll för rördrommar och fylla det med sumpsjöar; ja, jag skall bortsopa det med ödeläggelsens kvast, säger HERREN Sebaot. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "besom": besoms. (additional references) | |
| |
"Besom" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Bascom, bassom, Bedson, Beecom, beeso, Belson, Berson, besan, besm, besmo, beso, Besor, besos, Besso, besson, Bessoumal, besume, besun, Betson, bezem, bezo, bismol, bisom, bisum, Bseisou, busom, bussom, Bussum, ebom, Ibeson, Iesum. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-e-m-o-s" | |
-1 letter: mobs, obes, some. | |
-2 letters: bos, ems, mob, mos, obe, oes, oms, ose, sob, som. | |
-3 letters: be, bo, em, es, me, mo, oe, om, os, so. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-e-m-o-s" | |
+1 letter: besoms, biomes, bombes, bromes, combes, demobs, embosk, emboss, embows, ombers, ombres, somber, sombre. | |
+2 letters: ambones, amoebas, becomes, bemoans, bemocks, besmoke, beworms, bimboes, bombers, boomers, bosomed, combers, coombes, embolus, embosks, embosom, embryos, entombs, enwombs, gemsbok, hombres, mamboes, mobbers, mobiles, mobster, nombles, obelism, recombs, umbones, zombies. | |
+3 letters: abdomens, abelmosk, albumose, bedrooms, beglooms, benomyls, besmoked, besmokes, besmooth, bevomits, bioherms, biramose, bloomers, boatsmen, bohemias, bombesin, bombyxes, bondsmen, boomiest, boomlets, boredoms, boresome, bromates, bromides, bromines, bromizes, buxomest, cembalos, combines, cramboes, embodies, embolies, embolism, embosked, embosoms, embossed, embosser, embosses, embowels, embowers, embroils, embrowns, embryons, gambeson, gamboges, gemsboks, hambones, homeboys, imbodies, imbowers, jobnames, microbes, misbegot, mobilise, mobsters, movables, nelumbos, obeahism, obelisms, outbeams, problems, reblooms, ribosome, semihobo, smokable, somberly, sombrely, sombrero, somebody, symbiote, symboled, temblors, tombless, webworms, wombiest. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage Frequency 4. Expressions: Internet | 5. Translations: Modern 6. Bible Trace 7. Derivations 8. Anagrams | 9. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
