beside
/bɪˈsaɪd/ preposition, adverb
- preposition Next to; at the side of. “A small table beside the bed”
- preposition Not relevant to. “That is beside the point / beside the topic / beside the subject / beside the focus of this discussion.”
- preposition Besides; in addition to. “I'll need another dictionary beside this one.”
- adverb (literary or poetic) Otherwise; else; in addition; besides.
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English beside, besiden, bisyde (also besides > besides), from Old English be sīdan, bī sīdan (“by the side (of), on the side (of)”). Compare Saterland Frisian biesiede (“aside”), German Low German bisied (“aside”), German beiseite (“aside, to one side”). Compare also Dutch terzijde (“aside”). By surface analysis, be- + side.
Webster’s 1913
- preposition At the side of; on one side of. "Beside him hung his bow." Milton.
- preposition Aside from; out of the regular course or order of; in a state of deviation from; out of. [You] have done enough To put him quite beside his patience. Shak.
- adverb On one side. [Obs.] Chaucer. Shak.
- adverb More than that; over and above; not included in the number, or in what has been mentioned; moreover; in addition.
Etymology [OE. biside, bisiden, bisides, prep. and adv., beside, besides; pref. be- by + side. Cf. Besides, and see Side, n.]
Etymology [OE. Same as beside, prep.; the ending -s is an adverbial one, prop. a genitive sign.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “beside”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details