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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bespeak \Be*speak"\, verb (used without an object) To speak. [Obs.] --Milton.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bespeak \Be*speak"\, noun A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.) ''The night of her bespeak.'' --Dickens.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bespeak \Be*speak"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. {Bespoke}, {Bespake} (Archaic); p. p. {Bespoke}, {Bespoken}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Bespeaking}.] [OE. bispeken, AS. besprecan, to speak to, accuse; pref. be- + sprecan to speak. See {Speak}.]
1. To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor.
Concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favor. --Sir W. Scott.
2. To show beforehand; to foretell; to indicate.
[They] bespoke dangers . . . in order to scare the allies. --Swift.
3. To betoken; to show; to indicate by external marks or appearances.
When the abbot of St. Martin was born, he had so little the figure of a man that it bespoke him rather a monster. --Locke.
4. To speak to; to address. [Poetic]
He thus the queen bespoke. --Dryden.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
bespeak
verb
1: be a signal for or a symptom of; "These symptoms indicate a serious illness"; "Her behavior points to a severe neurosis"; "The economic indicators signal that the euro is undervalued" [syn: {betoken}, {indicate}, {point}, {signal}]
2: express the need or desire for; ask for; "She requested an extra bed in her room"; "She called for room service" [syn: {request}, {call for}, {quest}] [also: {bespoken}, {bespoke}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
113 Moby Thesaurus words for "bespeak": accost, address, announce, apostrophize, appeal to, apply for, apply to, approach, approve, argue, ask, ask for, attest, be construed as, be indicative of, be significant of, be symptomatic of, beg leave, betoken, book, breathe, brief, buttonhole, call for, call to, characterize, connote, crave, demand, demonstrate, denominate, denote, desire, differentiate, disclose, display, employ, engage, entail, evidence, evince, exhibit, express, file for, furnish evidence, give evidence, give indication of, give token, go to show, greet, hail, halloo, highlight, hint, hire, identify, illustrate, imply, import, indent, indicate, invoke, involve, make a request, make a requisition, make application, manifest, mark, mean, memorialize, note, order, point to, preengage, put in for, recruit, refer to, request, requisition, reserve, retain, reveal, salute, set forth, show, show signs of, sign on, sign up, sign up for, signalize, signify, solicit, speak, speak fair, speak for itself, speak to, speak volumes, spell, stand for, suggest, symbolize, symptomatize, symptomize, take aside, take into employment, take on, talk to, tell, tend to show, testify, whistle for, wish, witness
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