I am looking for the meaning of the German word "bezechet".  I have
found it referenced on a few german websites, but cannot find an
english translation, or any definition.  I can tell from the
translated sites I have seen that it appears to be some sort of
historical reference.  Can you please tell me the definition of the
word, and/or what it refers to?

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Request for Question Clarification by fons-ga on 16 Jul 2002 22:36 PDT

Hi,
I'm not a native German speaker, so I'm not going to give you the
answer. But are you really sure about the spelling? Now it does not
mean anything to me - and obvious also not to the online resources you
have used. To me it seems some letters might be missing.

Regards,

Fons

It´s a word that is not used in today´s common German. Many germans
will not understand it today. It was used since the 16th century in
the meaning of "drunk".
It is derived form the word "Zeche" (engl. "bill") which is used in
that meaning since the 15th century.
Examples for the use of "bezechet"

"Wer noch nie bezechet war,
Der hat nie studieret"
("the one who has never been drunk
wasn´t really a student")
from:
Gold und Silber liebe ich gerne
( http://www.lunaburgia.de/liedertexte/0013.htm )

or

"Es handelt einer, wann er sich an einem Fasttag bezechet, zwar wider
die Nüchternheit, nicht aber wider das Fasten."
("the one who drinks on a day of fasting  breaks the rule of
soberness, not the the rules of fasting")
from
Speisen und Fasten
( http://www.payer.de/kommkulturen/kultur092.htm )

I did the (rough) translations myself.
Search strategy:
( ://www.google.de/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=de&q=bezechet )
And I used 
"Drosdowski, G. et. al: Duden. Etymologie. Herkunftswörterbuch der
deutschen Sprache. Dudenverlag Mannheim."

till

Thank you for the answer.  The translation is exactly what I was
looking for, and the added context examples were straight from the web
sites I had visited.  I appreciate the information.  I was looking for
it in order to assist in an interpretation of a dream I had.  The
meaning and the context have helped quite a bit.  Thank you again.