Learn English – What does it mean when someone says, “I bid you no evil”

meaning

What does it mean when someone says, "I bid you no evil"?

Does this mean may good things come your way?

Best Answer

Bid is actually two different Old English verbs which have collapsed into the same form. Here the sense intended is not “offer, present”, deriving from OE béodan, as when you bid at an auction, but “ask or pray for”, deriving from OE biddan, as when you bid someone good day.

You here is the Indirect Object.

So I bid you no evil means “I pray for no evil to you”—that is, “I hope nothing bad happens to you.”