different between overwhelm vs umbeset

English

Etymology

From Middle English overwhelmen, equivalent to over- +? whelm.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???v????lm/, /???v??w?lm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?o?v????lm/, /?o?v??w?lm/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /?ov????lm/
• Rhymes: -?lm

Verb

overwhelm (third-person singular simple present overwhelms, present participle overwhelming, simple past and past participle overwhelmed)

1. To engulf, surge over and submerge.

   Synonym: swamp

2. To overpower, crush.

   In December 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland with overwhelming force.

   • The sea overwhelmed their enemies.

3. To overpower emotionally.
4. To cause to surround, to cover.

   1684, Denis Papin, Instrument to make turpentine penetrate plaster and wood using the airpump

   • I lay Turpentine all over the same: then I overwhelm a broader pipe about the first

Derived terms

• overwhelming

Related terms

• whelm

Antonyms

• underwhelm

Translations

Noun

overwhelm (plural overwhelms)

1. The state or condition of being overwhelmed.

See also

• too many balls in the air

English

Etymology

From Middle English umbesetten (“to surround”), from Old English ymbsettan (“to set around, surround, beset, encompass”), from Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around”) + *satjan? (“to set”); equivalent to um- +? beset or umbe- +? set. Compare also Old English ymbsittan (“to sit around, surround”), Dutch omzetten (“to convert, transpose”), German umsetzen (“to move to another place, convert, transform, transplant, adjust, rearrange”). More at umbe, set.

Verb

umbeset (third-person singular simple present umbesets, present participle umbesetting, simple past umbeset, past participle umbeset or umbesetten)

1. (obsolete or dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To block, obstruct; act detrimentally toward.
   • 1922, J. Maitland Thomson, The Public Records of Scotland, Maclehose, Jackson and co., page 48:

     […] , and pressing to have bereft them of their lives by umbesetting of the high gates to that effect at divers times of before, […]

   • 1972 (originally 1901), William Baird, General Wauchope, Books for Libraries Press, page 16:

     […] that king on one occasion, April 1535, having to grant a letter of protection in favour of him ‘and his wife and bairns’ against Sir Patrick Hepburn of Wauchtonne and thirty-four others for ‘umbesetting the highway for his slaughter.’

2. (obsolete or dialectal, chiefly Scotland) To overwhelm; cover completely.
   • 1885, John Humberger, The Conquest and Triumph of Divine Wisdom and Love in Predestination, J. L. Traiger, unmarked page:

     The Opponents Umbeset with Trickery.

   • 1952, Walter Milton, The Goad of Love, Faber & Faber, page 201:

     But soothly, of sithes the more I am umbeset with anguish of heart, and destitute of all men’s comfort, the more favourable and godly I find her to me.

   • 1971, Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love, CCEL, page 164:

     Certainly a good soul umbeset with many diseases, and noyed with the heat of temptation, can not feel the sweetness of God’s love as it is in itself;

Derived terms

• umbesetting

Related terms

• beset