bestir

English

WOTD – 30 August 2006

Etymology

From Middle English bestyrien, bestirien, from Old English bestyrian (“to heap up, pile up”), equivalent to be- +‎ stir.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈstɜː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɪˈstɝ/, /biˈstɝ/, /bəˈstɝ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

Verb

bestir (third-person singular simple present bestirs, present participle bestirring, simple past and past participle bestirred)

1. (transitive) To put into brisk or vigorous action; to move with life and vigor.
   • 1986, Watchman Nee, The Life that Wins, page 75:

     Notwithstanding all the various temptations to bad temper, pride, greediness, adultery and so forth, the enemy really has but one temptation, and that is, to bestir the saints.

2. (reflexive) To make active; to rouse oneself.
   • c. 1870, Robert Louis Stevenson, Nuits Blanches:

     Like the knocking at the door in Macbeth, or the cry of the watchman in the Tour de Nesle, they show that the horrible cæsura is over and the nightmares have fled away, because the day is breaking and the ordinary life of men is beginning to bestir itself among the streets.

   • 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram‎^[1], published 2009:

     The old man and his wife bestirred themselves to make every thing ready for the unexpected guests, […]

   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 9, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 108:

     When he had bestirred himself, […] it was clear daylight, though the sun had not tipped the yellow wall in the east.

   • 2009, June Jordan, Some of Us Did Not Die:

     And so I hope we can bestir ourselves not to “Rally Around Caesar,” as the recent Economist recommends. I hope we will bestir ourselves to rally around an emergency/militant reconstruction of a secular democracy consecrated to the equality of each and every living one of us.

   • 2010, Moshe Samsonowitz, Beyond What the Eye Perceives, page 42:

     Why is it so important to bestir oneself? Bestirring oneself means that one feels truly fortunate and excited to stand before one's Creator and that one longs for this moment.

   • 2017 July 9, Garrett Epps, “The Generational Significance of the Travel Ban Cases”, in The Atlantic‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Could these well-paid civil servants bestir themselves not only to rescue the American republic from danger but to strengthen its democratic governance, refresh its ideals, and reclaim its sadly soiled national honor?

   • 2020 June 20, Ross Douthat, “The Tempting of Neil Gorsuch”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     We may officially have three branches of government, but Americans seem to accept that it’s more like 2.25: A presidency that acts unilaterally whenever possible, a high court that checks the White House and settles culture wars, and a Congress that occasionally bestirs itself to pass a budget.

Translations

to put into brisk or vigorous action

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 行動起來／行动起来 (xíngdòng qǐlai), 活躍起來／活跃起来 (huóyuè qǐlai)

• Finnish: hoputtaa (fi), panna vauhtia (johonkin)
• Spanish: animar (es)

to become active

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 激勵／激励 (zh) (jīlì), 振作 (zh) (zhènzuò)

• Esperanto: ekmoviĝi
• Finnish: kiiruhtaa (fi)
• German: aufraffen (de) (reflexive)
• Maori: kori
• Spanish: animarse (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} раздвижвам се (razdvižvam se), ^{(please verify)} размърдвам се (razmǎrdvam se)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} встряхнуться (ru) (vstrjaxnutʹsja) (vstrjahnút’s’a), ^{(please verify)} энерги́чно (ru) (energíčno) ^{(please verify)} взя́ться (ru) (vzjátʹsja) (energíčno vzjat’s’a), ^{(please verify)} побужда́ть (ru) (pobuždátʹ) к действию (dejstviju) (pobuždát’ k déjstviju)

References

• “bestir”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Breits, Tribes, tribes, rebits, Bertis, bistre, bister, biters, bitser, Sibert

Aragonese

Verb

bestir

1. Superseded spelling of vestir.

References

• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “bestir”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

Faroese

Adjective

bestir

1. (in the plural) best, superlative of góður and væl

Declension

Declension of bestir (a5)
Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	bestur	best	best
Accusative	bestan	besta	best
Dative	bestum	bestari	bestum
Genitive	bests	bestar/ bestrar	bests
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	bestir	bestar	best
Accusative	bestar	bestar	best
Dative	bestum	bestum	bestum
Genitive	besta/ bestra	besta/ bestra	besta/ bestra

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch bestuur.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /bəsˈtir/ [bəsˈt̪ɪr]
• Rhymes: -ir
• Syllabification: bes‧tir

Noun

bêstir (first-person possessive bestirku, second-person possessive bestirmu, third-person possessive bestirnya)

1. (colloquial, uncommon) management (the executives of an organisation)

   Synonyms: pengelola, manajemen

Related terms

• setir

 

Further reading

• “bestir” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.