1. trans. To be suited to, or fit for; to agree with, be in harmony with; to become.
c. 1460. Fortescue, Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714), 49. That befittith the Kyngs Liberalite.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, IV. i. 93. He ought … to haue a certaine naturall instinct befitting this office.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 289. They’l tell the clocke to any businesse that We say befits the houre.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 868. Thou Serpent! that name best Befits thee with him leagu’d.
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1811), IV. xii. 70. Let me know, whether she wants anything that befits her case.
1843. Prescott, Mexico (1850), I. 137. The various duties befitting his princely station.
2. Of moral fitness: To be proper to, or incumbent upon, as a duty or task; to be right for.
1602. Shaks., Ham., I. ii. 2. It us befitted To beare our hearts in greefe.
1647. Cowley, Mistr., i. (1669), 21. She came for that, which more befits all Wives, The art of Giving, not of Saving Lives.
1875. B. Taylor, Faust, II. iii. II. 141. At home, be wise as it befits thee there.
† 3. To fit out with. Obs.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, V. ii. 143. A pretie light horse, such as be our Northerne nagges, befitted with a saddle, bridle [etc.].
1759. Sterne, Tr. Shandy, I. x. He had … befitted him with just such a bridle and saddle.
