beme

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle English beme, from Old English bēme, bȳme, bīeme (“wooden trumpet; tablet, billet”), from Proto-West Germanic *baumijā (“wooden instrument or utensil”), from Proto-Germanic *baumaz (“tree, lumber, beam, wood”). Related to beam.

Noun

beme (plural bemes)

1. (historical) A mediaeval trumpet, usually used in hunting or warfare.
   • 1789, Thomas Chatterton, William Barrett's History of Bristol, page 641:

     Heart of lion! sound the beme!
     Sound it into inner lands; […]

   • 2008, Suzanne Lord, Music in the Middle Ages:

     One of the long, curved horns was known as a beme and shows up as the instrument of choice blown by angels announcing the Biblical Day of Judgment.

   • 2014, Sir Thomas Malory, Maureen Okun, Joseph Black, Le Morte Darthur, page 302:

     And when the host on both parties saw that sword drawn, then they blew bemes, trumpets, and horns, and shouted grimly, and so both hosts dressed them together.

   • 2014, Jeremy Montagu, Horns and Trumpets of the World, page 94:

     […] be inserted directly into each other to make the long, straight beme or trompe.

Anagrams

• Beem

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English bēme, Anglian form of bīeme, bȳme (“trumpet; tablet, billet”), from Proto-West Germanic *baumijā; compare beem.

Alternative forms

• beeme
• (early) beame, beome, beume, bume

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbeːm(ə)/

Noun

beme (plural bemes or bemen)

1. A trumpet (musical instrument)
2. A hunting horn or warhorn.

Related terms

• bemen
• bemere

Descendants

• → English: beme

References

• “bẹ̄me, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

beme

1. Alternative form of beem

Old English

Noun

bēme f

1. Alternative form of bīeme