Busken

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Archaic term meaning to get oneself ready, dress up, or make one's way toward a place
2. An old word for preparing or adorning oneself, or hastening off to a destination
3. Dated verb describing the act of readying oneself in dress or setting out on a journey

Etymology: In Middle English, "busken" meant to prepare oneself, get ready, or hasten off somewhere, as in a knight making ready for battle. It is a borrowing from Old Norse "búask", the reflexive form of "búa", "to prepare", which reached northern England through the Viking-age settlement of the Danelaw. The form survived in Scots and northern dialects, where "busk" still means to dress up or adorn oneself. Readers may know a different "busk", the stiffening strip in a corset, but that comes from French "busc" and is unrelated.