Middle English bimonen, from late Old English bemænan "to express sorrow for, wail, lament;" see be- + moan (v.). Related: Bemoaned; bemoaning.
Entries linking to bemoan
be-
word-forming element of verbs and nouns from verbs, with a wide range of meaning: "about, around; thoroughly, completely; to make, cause, seem; to provide with; at, on, to, for;" from Old English be- "about, around, on all sides" (the unstressed form of bi "by;" see by (prep.)). The form has remained by- in stressed positions and in some more modern formations (bylaw, bygones, bystander).
The Old English prefix also was used to make transitive verbs and as a privative prefix (as in behead). The sense "on all sides, all about" naturally grew to include intensive uses (as in bespatter "spatter about," therefore "spatter very much," besprinkle, etc.). Be- also can be causative, or have just about any sense required. The prefix was productive 16c.-17c. in forming useful words, many of which have not survived, such as bethwack "to thrash soundly" (1550s) and betongue "to assail in speech, to scold" (1630s).
moan v.
mid-13c., monen, "mourn (someone); regret, bewail;" c. 1300, "to lament inarticulately, grieve; utter mournfully;" probably from Old English *mānan, a variant of mænan "to lament" (see moan (n.)). From late 14c. as "complain, tell one's troubles." From 1724 as "to make a low sound expressive of physical or mental suffering." Related: Moaned; moaning.