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Glite Dictionary
👋 To signal to come ✨ To attract or invite
to beckon

to beckon

23 4.0
Move your hand or head to tell someone to come closer
  • verb
  • /ˈbɛkən/
translation icon : hacer señas
  • She waved her hand to beckon him closer to the table.
  • beckons you to follow

Later, I saw a boy, aroused and elated, beckoning from a dune.

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Examples

  • Your master beckons you.

    The Domination of the Becoming (2018)

  • "Nine minutes," said his wife, beckoning to the Frenchman, who followed her out.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • But on Thursday nights, Father would beckon us.

    October 1 (2014)

  • So how did you beckon her to come to the courtyard?

  • I see your hand beckoning to me.

    Family Plot (1976)

  • Other students who were in attendance were beckoned to jump in...

    Bully (2018)

  • As the poet says, when love beckons to you, follow him.

    Academic text (2008)

  • "Hop aboard," he cried, beckoning me into the seat behind him.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Several knights had pulled in front of Keane and were beckoning him to follow.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The woman reached out her arms to Hadley, beckoning with long, bony fingers.

    Fiction book (1993)

Synonyms

to wave
vsto beckon
584 1.0

To move your hand back and forth to greet or get attention

invites someone to come closer or follow instead of just signaling
to wave at
vsto beckon
42 1.0

Raise your hand and move it to get someone's attention

asks someone to come closer or follow rather than simply get attention

Antonyms

to dissuade
35 6.0

To try to stop someone from doing something by talking to them

to repel
21 4.2

Make someone or something move back and stay away, often by using force

How Strong

to summon
  • Formal
200 5.3
to beckon
23 4.0
to gesture
62 3.0
to motion
35 2.1

Surface Forms

beckon infinitive
beckoned past
beckoned past participle
beckoning present participle
beckons third person singular

Morphology

beckon = beck (semi-transparent) = beck + on

The verb is historically derived from a noun meaning 'gesture', and the meaning matches that base, but the suffix '-on' is not a productive English verb-forming suffix and the noun 'beck' (gesture) is rare, so learners may not decompose it productively.

Etymology

Beckon comes from an old English word like beacon, which means a 'sign' or a 'light' that calls people. So to beckon someone is to make a small signal with your hand, head, or arm to tell them to come closer.