bawn, a fortified enclosure, outwork of a castle. Spenser, View of Ireland, Globe ed. p. 642, col. 2. Irish baḋḃḋún, an enclosure (Dinneen).
bawson, see [bauson].
bay, see [beck and bay, at].
bayard, the name of the horse given to Renaud, one of the Four Sons of Aymon (name of a romance), hence, a common name for a horse; ‘Bolde bayarde, ye are to blynde’, Skelton, ed. Dyce, i. 123, l. 101; a Bayard’s bun, horse bread, id. i. 15, l. 8. Bayard, lit. of a bay colour, O. Prov. baiart, ‘bai; cheval bai’ (Levy).
bayes, ‘baize’. Howell, Foreign Travell, sect. v, p. 31. A plural form of bay, bay coloured, reddish-brown. See Dict. (s.v. Baize).
beace, beasts; pl. of beast. Golding, Metam. xv. 13. This is the usual pron. of beast (and beasts) in the north of England. For various spellings—beas, beece, beess, &c., see EDD. (s.v. Beast).
beached, apparently for beeked, i.e. seasoned (as wood) by exposure to heat. ‘A coodgell [cudgel] beached or pilled [peeled] lawfully’, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 39; p. 106. Cp. ME. beke: ‘to beke wandes’ (Cath. Angl.), see NED. (s.v. Beek vb.1 1 b). See [beak].
bead, a prayer, Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 30; Gascoigne, Steel Glas, 872. This is the orig. sense of mod. E. bead; a perforated ball was so called because it was used for counting prayers. ME. bede ‘oracio’ (Prompt.). OE. (ge)bed prayer.
bead-roll, a list, catalogue. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 2. 32; bed-roll, Heywood, A Woman Killed, iii. 1 (Sir Charles). Properly, a list of persons to be specially prayed for.
beadsman, one who prays for another, Two Gent. i. 1. 18. ME. bedeman, ‘orator, supplicator’ (Prompt.). OE. (ge)bedmann (John iv. 23).