What does becalled mean?
"Becalled" is the rare past participle of the verb "becall," an almost entirely obsolete English word formed with the prefix "be-" attached to "call." In its older, broader sense, to becall was to call upon or invoke someone or something, so that a person who had "becalled" a saint had summoned that saint's aid through prayer or appeal. In Scots and northern English dialect, the verb took on a sharper meaning: to becall someone was to address them with abusive, insulting, or contemptuous language, making "becalled" describe a person who had been roundly reviled. The word belongs firmly to historical and dialectal English rather than contemporary usage, appearing chiefly in older literature and in large unabridged dictionaries. A modern reader encountering "becalled" should understand it as either "having been invoked" or "having been verbally abused," depending on context, though in nearly all current writing the ordinary word "called" has taken its place.
verbArchaic or dialectal past participle of "becall": to have called upon someone or something, or (in Scots and northern English dialect) to have addressed someone with abusive or contemptuous language.
- Past participle of becall: having been invoked or appealed to (archaic).
- Having been verbally abused or reproached (Scots and northern English dialect).
""The villagers were becalled by the passing lord, who spared them no harsh word.""
""Every saint in the chapel was becalled that morning in the hope of a good harvest.""
""He left the tavern, thoroughly becalled by the landlord for his unpaid debt.""
Barely found outside old dictionaries and Scots literature, "becalled" survives as a ghost of English's productive "be-" prefix era.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of becalled
"Becall" was formed in Middle English from the prefix "be-," which often added a sense of thoroughness or completeness to a verb, combined with "call," itself borrowed from Old Norse "kalla." The verb is attested from the Middle English period and remained in use into later centuries, particularly in Scots and northern dialects, where it developed its sense of verbal abuse. Its closest relative among surviving common words is "recall," built on the same Norse-derived verb.
Related word forms
How becalled is actually used
Extremely rare and essentially obsolete in modern standard English; encountered mainly in historical texts, dialect writing, and comprehensive dictionaries. Modern writers would simply use "called."
Easily confused with becalled
"Becalm" means to calm or still (or, nautically, to leave a ship motionless for lack of wind), whereas "becalled" is the past participle of "becall," meaning to call upon or revile.