Other forms: beckoned, beckoning, beckons
To beckon is to signal somebody to come nearer, usually with a hand or a finger. He beckoned her over. She beckoned with one finger.
It is a slightly formal and rather literary word — wave over is what people say. The gesture itself varies by country and this matters: the palm-up curled finger that means come here in Britain and America is rude in parts of Asia, and the palm-down wave that means come here elsewhere reads as goodbye to an English speaker. Note the figurative use, meaning that something attractive lies ahead: the weekend beckons, a career beckoned.
1verbbeckonTo signal to somebody to come nearer.
“The guard beckoned them through without a word.”
2verbattractiveOf something attractive, to lie ahead invitingly.
“Retirement beckoned and he was not ready for it.”
beckon is a signalling gesture.
Old English beacnian comes from beacen, a sign or signal — the same word as beacon. Beckoning and lighting a beacon are the same act at different scales: making a sign for somebody at a distance.
Proto-West Germanic
*bauknōn
Old English
bēacnian
Middle English
bekenen
English, today
beckon
Built from
From Middle English bekenen, beknen, becnen, beknien, from Old English bēacnian, bēcnian, bīecnan (“to signal; beckon”), from Proto-West Germanic bauknōn, bauknijan (“to signal”), from baukn (“signal; beacon”). Cognate with Old Saxon bōknian, Old High German bouhnen, Old Norse bákna. More at beacon.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sharper Verbs, Body Language & Gestures