Bespeak

Be*speak", v. i. To speak. [Obs.] Milton.

Be*speak" (?), v. t. [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.

Be*speak", n. A bespeaking. Among actors, a benefit (when a particular play is bespoken.) "The night of her bespeak." Dickens.