subs. (old).—A beggar; a scoundrel: a term of reproach frequently used by the old dramatists.
1598. SHAKESPEARE, 2 Henry IV., v. 3. Under which king, BEZONIAN, speak or die. Ibid., iv. 1. Great men oft die by vile BEZONIANS.
1602. MIDDLETON, Blurt, Master-Constable. What BEZONIAN is that?
1605. JONSON, Volpone, or the Fox, ii. 1.
| Heart! ere to-morrow I shall be new-christen’d | |
| And call’d the Pantalone di BESOGNIOSI, | |
| About the town. |
1611. COTGRAVE, Dictionarie, s.v. Bisogne. Bison; Also, a filthie knave, or clowne; a raskall, BISONIAN, base humored scoundrell.
1612. CHAPMAN, The Widow’s Tears. What blanketed? O the gods! spurn’d out by grooms like a base BISOGNO? thrust out by th’ head and shoulders.
1658. R. BROME, The Covent-Garden Weeded, v. 3. Beat the BESSOGNES that lie hid in the Carriages.
