- bide
- O.E. bidan "to stay, continue, live, remain," also "to trust, rely" (cognate of O.N. biša, O.Fris. bidia, Goth. beidan "to wait"), apparently from an extended stem of the root of O.E. biddan (see bid), the original sense of which was "to command," and "to trust." Perhaps the sense evolved in prehistoric times through "endure," and "endure a wait," to "to wait." Preserved in Scotland and northern England, replaced elsewhere by abide in all senses except to bide one's time.