beware

From Middle English bewar, be war, be ware, forms of Middle English ben ware (“to be on one's guard, be vigilant”, literally “be ware”), equivalent to be +‎ ware or be +‎ aware. Compare Old English bewarian.

• IPA^(key): /biˈwɛɚ/, /bɪˈwɛɚ/, /bəˈwɛɚ/

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  Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

beware

1. (defective, transitive, intransitive) To use caution, pay attention to (used both with and without of).
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 23:20-21:

     Behold, I send an Angel before thee […] . Beware of him, and obey his voice.

   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     Beware the Ides of March.

The verb was traditionally used without of (e.g. "beware the ides of March", from Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 15–19, by Shakespeare), but it is often used with the preposition today.

The verb beware has become a defective verb and now lacks forms such as the third-person singular simple present bewares and the simple past bewared. It can only be used imperatively (Beware of the dog!), subjunctively (It's important that he beware of the dog), or as an infinitive (You must beware of the dog or They told me to beware of the dog).

The inflected forms bewares, bewared, and bewaring are called obsolete in Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, along with the simple indicative "I beware". The forms bewares and bewared are very rarely found in modern texts, though bewaring is slightly less rare. These inflections are more likely to be found in very old texts.

The meanings of the obsolete inflected forms can be easily understood by replacing "beware" with the more modern equivalent consisting of a conjugated form of "be" and the word "wary". For example "bewares" means the same as "is wary", "bewared" the same as "was wary", etc.

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beware

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of bewaren