An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/bitten

by Friedrich Kluge

bitten, verb, ‘to beg, entreat, invite,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German bitten (from bitjan, bidjan); it is a strong verb of the class e—a—â—e. Compare Gothic bidjan, baþ, bêdum, bidans; Anglo-Saxon biddan; in English to bid, both bieten and bitten appear; English to beg, from Anglo-Saxon bedecian (Gothic *bidaqôn? compare Teutonic and Gothic *bidaqa, ‘beggar’). The strong verb belonged originally to the i class (Gothic bidja, *baiþ, *bidum, bidans might therefore be conjectured); a trace of this gradation is shown further by the factitive Gothic baidjan, Anglo-Saxon bœ̂dan, Old High German beiten, with the meaning ‘to order, demand, compel.’ The root bheidh, bhidh, accords with Greek πιθ (for φιθ, according to the well-known rule), πείθω, ‘to induce by entreaties, get by asking, persuade, convince’; to this belongs also Latin fîdo (equivalent to the Greek Mid. Voice πείθομαι), ‘to rely on a person.’ With this meaning an Old Teutonic bîdan, ‘to await, wait with full confidence’ (Gothic beidan, Old High German bîtan, Anglo-Saxon bîdan, English to bide), has been connected. The German noun Bitte is Old High German bita, most frequently bëta, Gothic bida. See beten, Gebet.