bestowverb/bɪˈstəʊ/

• 1

  To apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use.

  • All the voide time, that is betwene the huores of woorke ſlepe and meat, that they be ſuffered to beſtowe, euerye man as he lyketh beſte hym ſelfe.
  • [S]ince the voyce / Of moſt ſupreme Authority commands / My abſence: I determine to beſtovv / Some time in learning Languages abroad; […]
• 2

  obsoleteTo apply or make use of (someone or something); to employ, to use.

  • O if I had had time to haue made nevv liueries: I vvoulde haue beſtovved the thouſand pound I borrovved of you, but tis no matter, this poore ſhevv doth better, this doth inferre the zeale I had to ſee him.
  • And thou ſhalt beſtow that money for whatſoeuer thy ſoule lutſeth after, for oxen, or for ſheepe, or for wine, or for ſtrong drinke, or for whatſoeuer thy ſoule deſireth: and thou ſhalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou ſhalt reioyce, thou and thine houſhold.
• 3

  To impart (something) gratuitously; to present (something) to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honour; to confer, to give, to accord; to render.

  • I bestow upon you the name of Peter.
  • Medals were bestowed on the winning team.
• 4

  archaicTo place or put (someone or something) somewhere or in a certain situation; to dispose of.

  • The diuell take the one partie, / And his dam the other, / And theyle be both beſtovved. / I haue endured more for their ſakes, / Then man is able to endure.
  • Moreover I haue […] beſtovved the chiefe grounds, Principles, Rules, and Obſeruations [of heraldry] vnder their proper heads, and manifeſted their vſe by examples of ſpeciall choice, […]
• 5

  archaicTo deposit (something) for safekeeping; to lay up (something) in store; to stow.

  • The londes of a certayne man brought forth frutes plenteouſly⸝ and he thought in hym ſilfe ſayinge: whatt ſhall I do⸝ becauſe I have noo roume where to beſtowe my frutes?
  • Novv as I am a Chriſtian anſvver me, / In vvhat ſafe place you haue beſtovv'd my monie; / Or I ſhall breake that merrie ſconce of yours / That ſtands on tricks, vvhen I am vndiſpos'd: / VVhere is the thouſand Markes thou hadſt of me?
• 6

  archaicTo provide (someone or oneself) with accommodation; to find quarters for (someone or oneself); to lodge, to quarter.

  • The ſixteene daye of May they were al beſtovved abourd in Spaniſh ſhippes furniſhed with victual, & other neceſſaries for that iourney.
  • […] I heare / Macduffe liues in diſgrace. Sir, can you tell / VVhere he beſtovves himſelfe?
• 7

  obsoleteTo behave or conduct (oneself); to acquit.

  • Novv therefore vvould I haue thee to my Tutor / (For long agone I haue forgot to court, / Beſides the faſhion of the time is chang'd) / Hovv, and vvhich vvay I may beſtovv my ſelfe / To be regarded in her ſun-bright eye.
  • Hovv might vve ſee Falſtaffe beſtovv himſelf to night in his true colours, and not our ſelues be ſeene?
• 8

  obsoleteTo give (someone or oneself) in marriage.

  • You ſay, if I bring in your Roſalinde, / You vvill beſtovv her on Orlando heere?
  • I could have bestowed her upon a fine gentleman, who extremely admired her wit, and would have given her a coach and six: […]

bestownoun/bɪˈstəʊ/

• 1

  obsoleterareAn act of presenting a thing to someone or something, especially as a gift or an honour; a bestowal.

  • The Muſes bacely begge, or bibbe, or both, and muſt, for vvhy? / They finde as bad Beſtoe as is their Portage beggerly: / Yea novv by melancholie vvalkes and thred-bare coates vve geſſe / At Clyents and at Poetes: none vvorke more and profit leſſe, […]