overcome English · revision 6764

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 725}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌəʊ.vəˈkʌm/ ''(UK)''; /ˌoʊ.vəɹˈkʌm/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|ofercuman|t=to reach, overtake; to conquer]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|ang|ofer|t=over]] (see [[over]]) and [[m|ang|cuman|t=to come]] (see [[come]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is a common Germanic compound: compare [[dum|overcomen]] and [[goh|ubarqueman]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To come upon, reach or overtake: about 725, in ''Beowulf'', and before 800 in the Corpus Glossary;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED has this sense only in Old English.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To overpower, conquer or defeat, especially the Devil, sin or temptation, is from about 893.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) To overwhelm or render helpless, of emotion, drink or fumes, is late Old English,^(Etymonline) and to surmount a difficulty or obstacle is from about 1200.^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that the civil-rights anthem ''We Shall Overcome'' was put together in the 1950s from Charles Tindley's spiritual ''I'll Overcome Some Day'' (1901).^(Etymonline) In Scots, overcome was also a noun, a surplus or the refrain of a song.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – to reach, overtake.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 893 – to conquer.^(OED 1989)

+ * late Old English – to overwhelm.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1200 – to surmount a difficulty.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To defeat in a conflict or contest; to [[conquer]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To succeed in dealing with a problem or [[obstacle]]; to [[surmount]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To overpower with emotion, [[exhaustion]] or the like: ''overcome by fumes''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[overcomer]]

+ * [[unovercome]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[over]]

+ * [[come]]

+ * [[overwhelm]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}