The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Beside \Be*side"\, prep. [OE. biside, bisiden, bisides, prep.
and adv., beside, besides; pref. be- by + side. Cf. Besides,
and see Side, n.]
1. At the side of; on one side of. "Beside him hung his bow."
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Aside from; out of the regular course or order of; in a
state of deviation from; out of.
[1913 Webster]
[You] have done enough
To put him quite beside his patience. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Over and above; distinct from; in addition to.
Note: [In this use besides is now commoner.]
[1913 Webster]
Wise and learned men beside those whose names are
in the Christian records. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
To be beside one's self, to be out of one's wits or senses.
[1913 Webster]
Paul, thou art beside thyself. --Acts xxvi.
24.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Beside, Besides.
Usage: These words, whether used as prepositions or adverbs,
have been considered strictly synonymous, from an
early period of our literature, and have been freely
interchanged by our best writers. There is, however, a
tendency, in present usage, to make the following
distinction between them: 1. That beside be used only
and always as a preposition, with the original meaning
"by the side of; " as, to sit beside a fountain; or
with the closely allied meaning "aside from", "apart
from", or "out of"; as, this is beside our present
purpose; to be beside one's self with joy. The
adverbial sense to be wholly transferred to the
cognate word. 2. That besides, as a preposition, take
the remaining sense "in addition to", as, besides all
this; besides the considerations here offered. "There
was a famine in the land besides the first famine."
--Gen. xxvi. 1. And that it also take the adverbial
sense of "moreover", "beyond", etc., which had been
divided between the words; as, besides, there are
other considerations which belong to this case. The
following passages may serve to illustrate this use of
the words:
Lovely Thais sits beside thee. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
Only be patient till we have appeased
The multitude, beside themselves with fear.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
It is beside my present business to enlarge on
this speculation. --Locke.
[1913 Webster]
Besides this, there are persons in certain
situations who are expected to be charitable.
--Bp. Porteus.
[1913 Webster]
And, besides, the Moor
May unfold me to him; there stand I in much
peril. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
That man that does not know those things which
are of necessity for him to know is but an
ignorant man, whatever he may know besides.
--Tillotson.
[1913 Webster]
Note: See Moreover.
[1913 Webster] Besides
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Besides \Be*sides"\, Beside \Be*side"\, adv. [OE. Same as
beside, prep.; the ending -s is an adverbial one, prop. a
genitive sign.]
1. On one side. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. More than that; over and above; not included in the
number, or in what has been mentioned; moreover; in
addition.
[1913 Webster]
The men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides ?
--Gen. xix.
12.
[1913 Webster]
To all beside, as much an empty shade,
An Eugene living, as a C[ae]sar dead. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
Note: These sentences may be considered as elliptical.
[1913 Webster]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
92 Moby Thesaurus words for "beside":
abeam, above, abreast, additionally, again, agitated, all included,
along by, alongside, also, altogether, among other things, and all,
and also, and so, apart from, as compared with, as well, aside,
aside from, au reste, away from, bar, barring, besides, beyond,
but, by, by comparison with, close to, compared with, crazy, else,
en plus, ex, except, except for, excepting, excluding,
exclusive of, extra, farther, for lagniappe, further, furthermore,
hard by, in addition, in apposition, in comparison with,
in conjunction, in juxtaposition, inter alia, into the bargain,
item, leaving out, let alone, likewise, mad, more, moreover, near,
nearby, next to, nigh, off, omitting, on the side, on top of,
opposite, outside of, over, over against, over and above,
overwrought, plus, precluding, round, save, save and except,
saving, similarly, taken with, than, then, therewith, to boot, too,
unless, upset, with, without, yet