Besot

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /bɪˈsɑt/

Definitions

1. To cause someone to become extremely intoxicated with alcohol ; to cause someone to become foolishly or passionately in love or mentally confused
2. To induce heavy drunkenness in a person ; to overwhelm someone with romantic or emotional infatuation or bewilderment
3. To intoxicate someone to the point of decreased control ; to captivate or muddle someone's mind through intense affection or obsession

Etymology: "Besot" is built from the prefix "be-" and the noun "sot," meaning a fool or a dullard. The prefix "be-" in this sense works like a verb-maker, so "besot" means to make someone into a sot: to dull their wits or befuddle them. English has long used "be-" this way, as in "becloud" or "bewitch," and "besot" follows the same pattern. The word has a close relative in Middle English, "assoten" (also "assotten"), which meant to act foolishly or to fall madly in love. That earlier sense of infatuation explains the modern meaning, where "besot" describes being so captivated by affection or obsession that one's judgment goes. The intoxication sense and the infatuation sense grew from the same root idea of foolishness and befuddlement.

Synonyms: infatuate, daze, bewitch

Antonyms: sober, clarify