# bespoke

Pronunciation: US say "buh-SPOHK" /bəˈspoʊk/; UK say "bi-SPOHK" /bɪˈspəʊk/

## Adjective

1. Made or done to suit the needs of a particular person or group, such as a customer or patient, and so specialized and sometimes unique. *(Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Made or done to fit what one person or group needs, so it is special and sometimes one of a kind.
   - _The firm builds bespoke software for each hospital trust it works with._
   - _Every pair of shoes in the shop is bespoke, made to the customer's own measurements._
2. Describing someone who makes custom-made products, especially clothing. *(Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Describing a person who makes things to order for each customer, especially clothes.
   - _The bespoke tailor took fourteen measurements before cutting a single piece of cloth._
   - _Few bespoke bootmakers are left in the town, and their waiting lists run to a year._

## Verb

3. Past tense of bespeak. *(Ireland, UK)* — simple past of bespeak
   - Simple: Past tense of bespeak. Use this form when talking about something that happened earlier.
   - _The duke bespoke a carriage for the morning of the wedding._
   - _Her careful reply bespoke years of practice in diplomacy._

## Verb

4. Past participle of bespeak. Archaic; the usual form is bespoken. *(archaic, Ireland, UK)* — past participle of bespeak
   - Simple: Past participle of bespeak. An old form used after had or been, where people now say bespoken.
   - _He had bespoke a pair of riding boots, and they were ready by the first frost._
   - _Every seat in the coach had been bespoke a week before the fair._

## Origin

In the sense “custom-made”, first recorded in 1755, from the earlier bespoken (c. 1600), a form of bespeak in its sense “arrange beforehand” (1580s), which is a prefixed variant of speak. Compare order and made-to-order.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bespoke (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).