Word: beset Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English besetten, bisetten (“to besiege, blockade; to fill, occupy; to harass, beset; to allot, bestow; to arrange, manage; to place, set; to provide for; to treat in a certain way”), from Old English besettan, bisettan (“to surround, beset; to set near; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisattjan, from Proto-Germanic *bisatjaną (“to fill, occupy”), from *bi- (prefix meaning ‘at; by’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at; near; on”)) + *satjaną (“to place down, set”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”)). By surface analysis, be- (prefix meaning ‘around; by, close to, near, next to’) + set. cognates * Danish besætte (“to occupy; obsess”) * Dutch bezetten (“to sit in; occupy; fill”) * German besetzen (“to seize; occupy; garrison”) * German Low German besetten (“to occupy”) * Saterland Frisian besätte (“to occupy”) * Swedish besätta (“to fill; occupy; beset”) * West Frisian besette (“to occupy”) Pronunciation: /bɪˈsɛt/, /bəˈsɛt/, /bi-/ 1. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: transitive Example: He that hath read Seneca or Boethius, is well provided against any ordinary misfortune; and to have by heart the story of Argalus and Parthenia; the dolorous madrigals of old Plangus in the Arcadia; or the history of Pyramus and Thisbe, is a never failing remedy for the mubble-fubbles: For to be acquainted with sadness, besets familiarity, and familiars never kill one another, unless the devil is in them. Example: “Nay, for matter o’ that, he never doth any mischief,” said the woman; “but to be sure it is necessary he should keep some arms for his own safety; for his house hath been beset more than once; and it is not many nights ago that we thought we heard thieves about it […] 2. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: transitive 3. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: transitive 4. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: archaic, transitive Example: For thou, deere Lord, thou me besett'st; / Thy rodd and thy staff be / To comfort me: […] Example: Thou me beſetſt behind, before, / and laidſt thine hand on me, / Such knovvledge is for me too ſtrange, / it to attain's^([sic – meaning attainest]) too hie [high]. 5. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: archaic, transitive 6. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: Fred Brentnall, in his squeaky lorikeet voice reads to the House Lawson's last two stanzas, just to highlight the danger besetting the colony of Queensland, indeed, the whole country:[…] Example: Some of Grimsby's other (extraordinarily up-to-date) targets include Donald Trump and Daniel Radcliffe, whose fates here are too breath-catchingly cruel to spoil, and also the admirably game Strong, whose character is beset by a constant stream of humiliations that hit with the force of a jet of … well, you'll see. 7. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: archaic, often, transitive 8. Senses relating to surrounding. Labels: obsolete, transitive 9. Senses relating to placing or setting. Labels: obsolete, transitive 10. Senses relating to placing or setting. Labels: obsolete, transitive 11. Senses relating to placing or setting. Labels: obsolete, transitive 12. Senses relating to placing or setting. Labels: obsolete, transitive 13. Senses relating to being appropriate. Labels: obsolete, transitive 14. Senses relating to being appropriate. Labels: intransitive, obsolete