be

Meaning

1. about (concerning)

   Hū be mete? hū swīðe lyst þē þæs?

   How about food? How much dost thou desire that?

   late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies

2. by, in various senses

   Hēr man ofslōh Ælfwine bē Trēntan.

   In this year a man slew Alvin near the Trent.

   The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

3. by, in various senses:; near or next to

4. by, in various senses:; not later than

5. by, in various senses:; based on, according to

6. for, in the account of

   Eall swa þa unriht-wisan deman þe heora domas awendað, æfre be þam sceattum na be soðfæstnysse and habbað æfre to cepe heora soðfæstnysse, and swa hi sylfe syllað wið sceattum...

   So likewise those unrighteous judges who pervert their judgments, always for gain, and not for justice, and always offer their justice for sale, and thus sell themselves for the sake of money,...

   late 10th century, Ælfric, "Passion of St.Alban, Martyr"