Betimes comes from Middle English bitimes, from bitime ('early') + adverbial -s; from be- + time, from Old English tīma ('time'). The historical trail runs through be- in Old English and tīma in Old English. Morphologically, betimes is transparent: it draws on Middle English bitimes, from bitime ('early') + adverbial -s. Used as an adverb, betimes now means "in good time; early; on occasion (archaic)", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as time. The modern word remains analyzable through its parts, which makes the semantic connection unusually direct.