# siege
## English
### Alternative forms

* syege (15th–16th centuries)

### Etymology

From Middle English sege, from Old French sege, siege, seige (modern French siège), from Vulgar Latin *sēdicum, from Latin sēdicŭlum, sēdēcula (“small seat”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sēj IPA: /siːd͡ʒ/
* (General American) IPA: /sid͡ʒ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːdʒ

### Noun

siege (plural sieges)
* Military action.
** (military) A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
*** 1748, [David Hume], chapter 3, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 5:The Peloponnesian war is a proper subject for history, the siege of Athens for an epic poem, and the death of Alcibiades for a tragedy.
*** 2001, Alfred S. Bradford, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World‎, Praeger, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 145:Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.
** (US) A period of struggle or difficulty, especially from illness.
** (figuratively) A prolonged assault or attack.
*** 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:But once again Hodgson's men found a way to get the result they required and there is a real air of respectability about their campaign even though they had to survive a first-half siege from a Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.
* A seat.
** (obsolete) A seat, especially as used by someone of importance or authority.
*** 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V:Now Merlyn said kyng Arthur / goo thow and aspye me in al this land l knyghtes whiche ben of most prowesse & worship / within short tyme merlyn had founde suche knyȝtes […] Thenne the Bisshop of Caunterbury was fette and he blessid the syeges with grete Royalte and deuoycyon / and there sette the viij and xx knyghtes in her syeges(please add an English translation of this quotation)
*** 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:To th'vpper part, where was aduaunced hye / A stately siege of soueraigne maiestye; / And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay […].
** (obsolete) An ecclesiastical see.
** (obsolete) The place where one has his seat; a home, residence, domain, empire.
** The seat of a heron while looking out for prey.
** A flock of herons.
** (obsolete) A toilet seat.
** (obsolete) The anus; the rectum.
*** 1650, Thomas Browne, chapter III, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 17:Another ground were certain holes or cavities observable about the siege; which being perceived in males, made some conceive there might be also a feminine nature in them.
** (obsolete) Excrements, stool, fecal matter.
*** 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam'st thou / to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?
** (obsolete) Rank; grade; station; estimation.
*** c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege.
** (obsolete) The floor of a glass-furnace.
* (obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.

#### Synonyms

* (place with a toilet seat): See Thesaurus:bathroom

#### Derived terms

* besiege
* countersiege
* lay siege
* siege engine
* siegehouse
* siege mentality
* Siege Perilous
* siege piece
* siege tower
* siege train
* siege warfare
* siege weapon
* state of siege

#### Translations
### Verb

siege (third-person singular simple present sieges, present participle sieging, simple past and past participle sieged)
* (transitive, uncommon) To assault or blockade a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition; to besiege.
    Synonym: besiege

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* Geise, Giese

## German
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Verb

siege
* inflection of siegen:
** first-person singular present
** singular imperative
** first/third-person singular subjunctive I

## Middle French
### Noun

siege m (plural sieges)
* siege (prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition)
* seat (place where one sits)

#### Descendants

* French: siège