beset

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bisetten, also besetten,^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English besettan (“to put, place; to own, occupy; to surround, besiege”),^[5][6][7][8] from Proto-Germanic *bisatjaną.^[5][6] The Old English verb is formed from be- (“about”) and settan (“to set”),^[6][9][10] the source of set.^[11][10] It is cognate with Old Frisian bisetta (“to surround”), Old Saxon bisettjan, Dutch bezetten, Old High German bisezzan, German besetzen (“to occupy”) and Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (bisatjan, “to surround with”).^{[12][6][5][13]} The OED explains the Germanic verb as the causative of the verb meaning to sit, so that beset is the causative of besit.^[12] The American Heritage Dictionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To set something about with ornaments or other things: in Beowulf (about 725, in Barnhart's dating),^[6][12] where the armour-smith "beset it with figures of swine".^[7]

Semantic evolution

Old English used the verb widely: to put or place, to own or occupy, to cover or surround, and to besiege.^[5][7][8] The figurative sense, of temptations, dangers and difficulties pressing on someone from all sides, was already Old English, in the poem Andreas.^[12][5] In Middle English the verb meant to assail a person on all sides, before 1225,^[12][6] to besiege a place (Ancrene Riwle, about 1225), and to hold a road or gate so that no one could pass (before 1400).^[12] A sense "to bestow" from the 12th century has died out.^[11] Johnson (1755) gave "to besiege; to hem in" as the first sense.^[14] The phrase besetting sin comes from the English Bible (Hebrews 12:1), where it renders the Vulgate's circumstans peccatum.^[15] The literal sense of studding something with ornaments now survives only in the past participle,^[12] and in Lincolnshire dialect beset for "attack" was becoming obsolete by about 1900.^[16]

Timeline

• c. 725 – to set about with ornaments, in Beowulf.^[6][12]
• Old English – figurative, of temptations and dangers, in Andreas.^[12]
• before 1225 – to assail a person on all sides.^[12]
• c. 1225 – to besiege a place, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[12]
• before 1400 – to hold a road or gate so as to stop anyone passing.^[12]
• 1483 – in the passive, to be possessed by devils (obsolete).^[12]
• c. 1550 – to hem in or surround, as with ice.^[12]
• 1800 – of difficulties besetting a task or course.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of dangers, temptations or difficulties: to trouble or harass constantly: Money worries beset the family all winter.^[17][10][12]
2. To attack or surround from all sides: The travellers were beset by bandits on the mountain road.^[17][12][14]
3. To hem in or close round: a ship beset by ice.^[12][14]
4. To hold a road, gate or passage so that no one can pass.^[12]
5. (archaic) To stud or cover, especially with jewels or ornaments; now chiefly in the past participle: a dagger hilt beset with garnets.^[17][10][12]

Word family

• besetment
• besetter
• besetting
• unbeset

Related words

• set
• sit
• besit

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ a b Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
17. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins