Meaning

verb cause oneself to consider something

verb consider or ponder something carefully

originFrom Middle English bethenken, bithenchen (“to think about, consider”) from Old English beþenċan, biþenċan (“to think upon, remind, consider, remember”), from Proto-Germanic *biþankijaną; equivalent to be- + think. Akin to Old High German pidenchan (German bedenken), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐌾𐌰𐌽 (biþagkjan), Dutch bedenken.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0