besidde

Besidde is a historical spelling variant of the English preposition beside. It is attested in a small number of late Middle English texts, primarily in the northern regions of England and in the Scottish Border area, dating roughly from the 13th to 15th centuries. The form appears to be a regional or scribal variant rather than a distinct lexical item and does not reflect a separate meaning from beside.

Etymology and orthography suggest besidde shares the same roots as beside, formed from by + side in Middle English, with spelling influenced by local scribal practices. The appearance of the -de ending may reflect an older phonological or orthographic convention used by scribes to indicate the following consonant or to align with surrounding word forms, though the exact pronunciation cannot be reconstructed with certainty from surviving texts.

Usage and grammar are functionally identical to beside. Besidde appears before noun phrases, as in phrases that would translate to “beside the house” in modern English. In modern editions and translations, besidde is typically normalized to beside to reflect contemporary spelling standards, but it may be preserved in historical quotations to preserve linguistic context.

Attestation and distribution: evidence for besidde is relatively sparse and concentrated in a few medieval manuscripts. Its rarity, regional distribution, and eventual replacement by beside illustrate broader patterns of spelling variation in Middle English before standardization.

See also: beside, Middle English orthography, Scottish English varieties. References to besidde are limited to historical texts on Middle English spelling and regional dialectology.