beleaguer English · revision 368

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɪˈliː.ɡə/ ''(UK)''; /bɪˈli.ɡɚ/, /biˈli.ɡɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|nl|belegeren|t=to besiege]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) [[af|nl|be-|leger|t1=around|t2=camp]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Barnhart prefers Low German ''belegeren'', a word of the same form.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Etymonline calls it a word of the Flemish wars, and says the English spelling was influenced by the unrelated word [[league]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To surround or beset, generally with hostility (1589), and to besiege a town with troops (1590).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was used both literally and figuratively from the start.^(Etymonline) The military sense of investing a town has faded, and the word is now used mostly of people or places beset by troubles, especially in the form ''beleaguered''.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1587 – first date given by Merriam-Webster.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1589 – to surround or beset.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1590 – to besiege a town with troops.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1611 – noun, a besieger (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To trouble or harass persistently.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To surround with troops; to besiege.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[beleaguerment]]

+ * [[beleaguerer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[leaguer]]

+ * [[lair]]

+ * [[besiege]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House lists ''harass'', ''pester'', ''badger'', ''bother'', ''vex'', ''plague'' and ''hector'' as synonyms of the figurative sense.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}