Besettan

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To surround a person or place so as to hem it in, as an army does when laying siege ; to arrange or position something so that it encircles or lies about an object
2. To encircle or hem in a place with forces or obstacles ; to put or fix something around another thing so that it is enclosed
3. To lay siege to or enclose a location on every side ; to set objects or people around something in a ring or boundary

Etymology: Beset is the modern descendant of Old English "besettan," built from the prefix "be-" and "settan," meaning "to set." "Settan" is the causative of "sit," so its basic sense is "to cause to sit" or "to place." Adding "be-," which intensifies or surrounds, gave the sense of placing something all around a thing. In Old English, "besettan" could mean to surround, to occupy a place, or to besiege a town. The sense of being surrounded and pressed on from every side carried into later English. Today we say a person is beset by problems or attacked on all sides, which keeps that original image of something encircling its target. The word's older meanings of physically occupying or enclosing a place have mostly faded from common use.