different between beset vs besetment

English

Etymology

From Middle English besetten, bisetten, from Old English besettan (“to beset; set beside; set near; appoint; place; own; possess”), from Proto-Germanic *bisatjan? (“to set near; set around”), equivalent to be- +? set. Cognate with Saterland Frisian besätte (“to occupy”), West Frisian besette (“to occupy”), Dutch bezetten (“to sit in; occupy; fill”), German Low German besetten (“to occupy”), German besetzen (“to seize; occupy; garrison”), Danish besætte (“to occupy; obsess”), Swedish besätta (“to fill; occupy; beset”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??s?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Verb

beset (third-person singular simple present besets, present participle besetting, simple past and past participle beset)

1. (transitive) To surround or hem in.
2. (transitive, sometimes figuratively) To attack or assail, especially from all sides.

   • “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 […]

3. (transitive) To decorate something with jewels etc.
4. (nautical) Of a ship, to get trapped by ice.

Derived terms

• besetting

Translations

Anagrams

• Beets, Beste, beest, beets, tsebe

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch bezetten, from Middle Dutch besetten, from Old Dutch *bisetten, from Proto-Germanic *bisatjan?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??s?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Verb

beset (present beset, present participle besettende, past participle beset)

1. (transitive) to occupy, to fill
2. (transitive, military) to occupy militarily

Derived terms

• besetting

English

Etymology

beset +? -ment

Noun

besetment (countable and uncountable, plural besetments)

1. The state of being beset.

   A common threat to icebreakers is besetment, where they are trapped in the ice and unable to ram the ice to escape.