Etymologically
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obsideo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word obsideo

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (sedeō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔpˈsɪ.de.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [obˈsiː.de.o][1]

Forms

obsideō (present infinitive obsidēre, perfect active obsēdī, supine obsessum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ob- “before, against” and sedeō “to sit”, and is also spelled ⟨opsideō⟩.[2][1][3] A form ⟨obsīdō⟩ from sīdō also occurs.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of planting oneself and of occupying a place.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Intransitively it meant to sit, stay, plant oneself, as Plautus' servī nē obsideant “let the slaves not sit down”, which Lewis and Short call poetic.[2][5] It meant to occupy a place, of crowds to throng, as in Virgil, to fill a space, and in Cicero to usurp a function or to haunt a place.[2] From the Rhetorica ad Herennium it meant to besiege, blockade, surround in a hostile way, to beset roads, and in Lucretius to block a passage.[2] Figuratively it meant to besiege a person's mind, as in Varro, to obstruct someone's business, and of ills to beset, as in Caesar; in Ovid it meant to cover thickly, choke.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to enclose, beset, remain.[6] Its participle obsessus gave English obsess about 1500, first meaning “to besiege”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of occupying.[2][4]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of a siege.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of ills besetting.[2][4]
  • c. 1500 – English obsess is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sit, stay.[2]
  2. To occupy; to throng; to fill.[2]
  3. To haunt, frequent.[2]
  4. To besiege, blockade; to beset.[2]
  5. To assail; to obstruct.[2]
  6. To cover thickly, choke.[2]

Word family

  • obsessiō
  • obsessor
  • obsidatus
  • obsidiō
  • obsidium
  • obsidiōnālis
  • obsidior

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Obsideo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/obsideo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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