An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/bitten

by Friedrich Kluge

bitten, vb., ‘to beg, entreat, invite,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. bitten (from bitjan, bidjan); it is a str. vb. of the class e—a—â—e. Comp. Goth. bidjan, baþ, bêdum, bidans; AS. biddan; in E. to bid, both bieten and bitten appear; E. to beg, from AS. bedecian (Goth. *bidaqôn? comp. Teut. and Goth. *bidaqa, ‘beggar’). The str. vb. belonged originally to the i class (Goth. bidja, *baiþ, *bidum, bidans might therefore be conjectured); a trace of this gradation is shown further by the factitive Goth. baidjan, AS. bœ̂dan, OHG. beiten, with the meaning ‘to order, demand, compel.’ The root bheidh, bhidh, accords with Gr. πιθ (for φιθ, according to the well-known rule), πείθω, ‘to induce by entreaties, get by asking, persuade, convince’; to this belongs also Lat. fîdo (equiv. to the Gr. Mid. Voice πείθομαι), ‘to rely on a person.’ With this meaning an OTeut. bîdan, ‘to await, wait with full confidence’ (Goth. beidan, OHG. bîtan, AS. bîdan, E. to bide), has been connected. The Germ. noun Bitte is OHG. bita, most frequently bëta, Goth. bida. See beten, Gebet.