Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BE, prep. [BE-.]

A prefix, as in because, before, beset, bedeck, is the same word as by; Sax. be, big; Goth. bi. It is common to the English, Saxon, Gothic, German, Dutch, Danish and Swedish languages. It occurs probably in the Russian, but is written po, as it is in possideo, and a few other words in the Latin. It denotes nearness, closeness, about, on, at, from some root signifying to pass or to press. [See By.] That this word is the Shemitic ב, used as a prefix, is certain, not only from its general applications, which may be seen by comparing the uses of the word, in the Hebrew for instance, with those in the Saxon; but from its use in particular phrases particularly in its use before the name of the Supreme Being in swearing. Hence we find that ב is not from בה nor from בית, as Parkhurst supposes, but is an abbreviation of big, which is used in the Saxon, bigspell, a proverb, a by-word; bigstandan, to stand by.