betide

Etymology

From Middle English bityden [and other forms]; from bi- (prefix forming verbs, usually with a completive, figurative, or intensive sense) + tyden (“to come about, happen, occur; to befall, become of, happen to (someone); to be the fate of (someone); to await (someone); to fare, get along”); tyden is derived from Old English tīdan (“to befall, betide, happen”), related to tīd (“time; season; hour”) (both ultimately either from Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- (“to divide, share”) or *dī- (“time”)) + -an (suffix forming the infinitive of most verbs). The English word is analysable as be- + tide (“(obsolete) to happen, occur”).

verb

1. (transitive) Often used in a prediction (chiefly in woe betide) or a wish: to happen to (someone or something); to befall.
2. (intransitive) Chiefly in the third person: to happen; to take place; to bechance, to befall.
   Be not dismayed whate'er betide, / God will take care of you; / Beneath his wings of love abide, / God will take care of you. 1904, “God Will Take Care of You”, Civilla Durfee Martin (lyrics), Walter Stillman Martin (music)