BESIDE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Beside

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/bɪsˈaɪd/ /bˌisˈaɪd/ Listen

preposition

Beside prep.

1.

At the side of; on one side of. "Beside him hung his bow."

2.

Aside from; out of the regular course or order of; in a state of deviation from; out of. "(You) have done enough To put him quite beside his patience."

3.

Over and above; distinct from; in addition to. Note: (In this use besides is now commoner.) "Wise and learned men beside those whose names are in the Christian records."

To be beside one's self, to be out of one's wits or senses. "Paul, thou art beside thyself."

Synonyms: Beside, Besides. These words, whether used as prepositions or adverbs, have been considered strictly synonymous, from an early period of our literature, and have been freely interchanged by our best writers. There is, however, a tendency, in present usage, to make the following distinction between them: 1. That beside be used only and always as a preposition, with the original meaning "by the side of; " as, to sit beside a fountain; or with the closely allied meaning "aside from", "apart from", or "out of"; as, this is beside our present purpose; to be beside one's self with joy. The adverbial sense to be wholly transferred to the cognate word. 2. That besides, as a preposition, take the remaining sense "in addition to", as, besides all this; besides the considerations here offered. "There was a famine in the land besides the first famine." And that it also take the adverbial sense of "moreover", "beyond", etc., which had been divided between the words; as, besides, there are other considerations which belong to this case. The following passages may serve to illustrate this use of the words: "Lovely Thais sits beside thee." "Only be patient till we have appeased The multitude, beside themselves with fear." "It is beside my present business to enlarge on this speculation." "Besides this, there are persons in certain situations who are expected to be charitable." "And, besides, the Moor May unfold me to him; there stand I in much peril." "That man that does not know those things which are of necessity for him to know is but an ignorant man, whatever he may know besides." Note: See Moreover.

adverb

Beside, Besides adv.

1.

On one side. (Obs.)

2.

More than that; over and above; not included in the number, or in what has been mentioned; moreover; in addition. "The men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides?" "To all beside, as much an empty shade, An Eugene living, as a Caesar dead." Note: These sentences may be considered as elliptical.

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Etymology of 'Beside'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Beside" Quotes from Famous Books

... beamed on me then as the sun coming out from the cloud and changing the face of earth; you opened to my sight the fairy-land of poetry and art; you took me by the hand and said, "Courage! there is at each step some green gap in the hedgerows, some, soft escape from the stony thoroughfare. Beside the real life expands the ideal life to those who seek it. Droop not, seek it: the ideal life has its sorrows, but it never admits despair; as on the ear of him who follows the winding course of a stream, the stream ever varies the note of its music,—now ...

— The Parisians, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... see the mountain, and hill following after hill, as wave on wave, you see the woods and orchard, the fields of ripe corn, and the meadows reaching to the reed-beds by the river. You see me standing here beside you, and hear my voice; but I tell you that all these things—yes, from that star that has just shone out in the sky to the solid ground beneath our feet—I say that all these are but dreams and shadows; the shadows that hide the ...

— The Great God Pan • Arthur Machen

... and his two mates when they entered the hall, dressed in blue surtouts with bright brass buttons, white duck trousers, and richly flowered vests [waistcoats]. There was a splendid salmon, of twenty pounds weight, at one end of the board; and beside it, on the same dish, a lake-trout of equal size and beauty. At the other end smoked a haunch of venison, covered with at least an inch of fat; and beside it a bowl of excellent cranberry jam, the handiwork of the hostess. ...

— Ungava • R.M. Ballantyne

... successful soldier, the worthy successor of his great father, came home from Brittany early in 1231. His last act was to marry his sister, Isabella, to Richard of Cornwall. Within ten days of the wedding his body was laid beside his father in the Temple Church at London. In October, 1232, died Randolph of Blundeville, the last representative of the male stock of the old line of the Earls of Chester, and long the foremost champion ...

— The History of England - From the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) • T.F. Tout

... increased in fame as in age. Soon after its first folio edition was concluded, it was published in six duodecimo volumes; and its authour lived to see ten numerous editions of it in London, beside those of ...

— Life of Johnson - Abridged and Edited, with an Introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood • James Boswell

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