Forms: 2 ben war, 3–6 be war, be-war, 3–7 bewar, 3–5 be-warr, 5 bywar, 5–6 be ware, 6 bewarre, be wayre, 6– beware. [The origin of this is involved: 1. OE. had a trans. vb. warian ‘to guard, take care or charge of,’ with a compound bewarian ‘to defend.’ The latter is not certainly found in ME. (where it would have been bewaren); the former survived as WARE, common till 1500 with a dative refl. const., esp. in the imperative ware thee! ‘cave tibi, take care of thyself, be on your guard, beware!’; and has been retained down to the present day in the simple imperative ware!, as ‘Ware holes!’ (although in this form it has often since 1600 been mistaken for a contraction of beware! or an interjectional use of the adjective). 2. OE. had also an adj. wær ‘cautus, cautious, on one’s guard,’ which survived in ME. as war, ware, common in the phrase to be ware ‘to be on one’s guard,’ of which the imperative be ware! was practically = ware thee! aforesaid. 3. From this equivalence of meaning, be ware early began to be treated in some respects as a single word, viz. as a compound of the vb. ware, thus stepping into the place of the OE. bewarian. As early as 1300 we find it written as one word, and even with by as the prefix, and in 14–15th c. it often followed the verbal constructions of the simple ware, even to taking a direct object, as in ‘beware that train’ (c. 1500 in 1 e). But on the other hand it was used only in those parts of the vb. where be is found, viz. the imper., infin., and pres. subj. (the indic. being I am ware, thou art ware, etc.). After 1600, the verbal aspect so far prevailed that the inflexions bewares, bewared, bewaring, were used by good writers; but these have again been discarded, and beware is now used only where be ware would be a possible construction, viz. in the imper. (chiefly), the infin., and pres. subj. (rarely). The full evidence of these statements will be found under WARE: the following quotations show the relations of to be ware, to ware oneself, ware thee, ware to thee, be ware to thee, beware thee, beware thyself, before 1500.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 5. [He] muneȝed us alle to ben warre þarof.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 62. He þat stitthest wenis at stand, Warre hym! his fall is nexst his hand.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. V. 452. Ware þe fram wanhope wolde þe bitraye.
1388. Wyclif, Ecclus. xiii. 16. Be war [v.r. war] to thee, and take heede … to thin heryng.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur (1816), II. 399. Be you beware also what ye do.
1477. Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, 11 b. Ware the of the wordes of lyers.
1483. Vulgaria abs Terentio, 2 b. Ware thy hede thy handys or fete.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, G iv. A woman ought to beware herself.]
I. Without inflexions.
1. To be cautious or on one’s guard, to be wary; to take care, take heed, in reference to a danger.
a. simply.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 17432. Bot we ne be-warr [Gött. be-war] wit-stand in time.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 34. Be ware, caveo.
1535. Coverdale, Eccles. iv. 13. An olde Kinge that doteth and cannot bewarre in tyme to come.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 304. Shake off slumber and beware.
b. with of (from, with, obs.): To be on one’s guard against.
1297. R. Glouc., 547. Hii miȝte bewar of hor fon.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 4425 (Fairf.). Be-war of treson of womman.
1557. North, Gueuara’s Diall Pr. (1582), 269 a. There are such malices from the which wee ought to beware.
1624. Heywood, Gunaik., II. 74. From Sophists we must altogether beware.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 128, ¶ 1. Men should beware of being captivated.
1712. Pope, Rape Lock, I. 114. Beware of all, but most beware of Man.
1836. J. Gilbert, Chr. Atonem., ix. (1852), 293. Let us then beware of self-deception.
† c. with infinitive. Obs.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., B. 292. I schal wayte to be-war her wrenchez to kepe.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Truth, 11. Bywar therfore to spurne ageyns an al.
d. with clause: lest, that not, how.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 21. Let hym beware, that he trede not to moche vppon the corne.
1549. Coverdale, Erasm. Par. 2 Cor. 53. Beware, leste your cleannes be defiled.
1770. Junius Lett., xli. 219. Beware how you indulge … your resentment.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., I. I. 376. Beware lest … in thy mirth, Thou tell’st the story of thy love unseen.
e. with simple object; = b.
c. 1500. Doctr. Gd. Servaunts, in Anc. Poet. Tr. (Percy Soc.), 4. Beware that trayne, For it standeth in grete daungere.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., III. iii. 7. Since I am a dog, beware my phangs. Ibid. (1605), Macb., IV. i. 72. Beware the Thane of Fife.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Past., III. 145. Ye Boys … Beware the secret Snake that shoots a Sting.
1842. Longf., Excelsior, vi. Beware the pine-tree’s withered branch! Beware the awful avalanche!
† 2. To take care, have a care of: a. with of. Obs.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Frankl. T., 813. But euery wyf be war of hire biheeste [v.r. be ware, bewar].
1611. Bible, Ex. xxiii. 20–1. Behold, I send an Angel…. Beware of him, and obey his voice.
† b. with simple object. Obs.
1566. T. Stapleton, Ret. Untr. Jewel, iii. 70. When the Fox preacheth, beware your geese.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., I. iii. 47. Priest, beware your Beard, I meane to tugge it.
a. 1600. Rob. Hood (Ritson), II. xii. 136. Now, bishop, beware thy purse.
1713. Addison, Cato, IV. ii. 19. Have at thy heart. Juba. Nay, then beware thy own.
c. with infin. or clause. arch.
a. 1569. Kingesmyll, Man’s Est., xii. (1580), 80. Christ is sent unto us, let us beware that we receive him.
1599. Greene, Alphonsus (1861), 245. Beware you follow still your friends advice.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 595. The more he varies Forms, beware To strain his Fetters with a stricter Care.
1860. [see II].
† 3. To take warning by. Obs.
c. 1500. New Notbr. Mayd, 52. Beware by dedes dampnable.
1536. Wriothesley, Chron. (1875), I. 40. I beseche God … that all you may be wayre by me.
1581. W. Stafford, Exam. Compl., ii. (1876), 65. I pray God this Realme may beware by that example.
1605. Camden, Rem. (1637), 300. It is good to beware by other mens harmes.
1700. [see II].
II. As an inflected verb.
1598. Florio, Raueduto, bewared, espied.
1606. N. Baxter, Sidney’s Ourania, K iij. Bewaring of too hot combustion.
1661. Milton, Accedence, Wks. 1738, I. 613. I had bewar’d if I had foreseen.
1672. Newton, in Rigaud, Corr. Sci. Men (1841), II. 316. I stirred them a little together, bewaring … that I drew not in breath near the pernicious fumes.
1700. Dryden, Cock & Fox, 799. Once warn’d is well bewar’d.
1860. Emerson, Cond. Life, i. (1861), 32. We beware to ask only for high things.
1870. Echo, 17 Oct. Showing the greatest respect … and bewaring of the slightest insubordination.
