Beset
/bɪˈsɛt/noun
To trouble, attack, or surround persistently; also to set upon or decorate with something.
Did you know?In Middle English, beset could mean both “to attack on all sides” and “to adorn or set with ornaments,” because the core idea was simply “to place around.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sed-
“to sit, settle”
Old English
OE
besettan
“to set around, besiege, furnish, adorn”
Middle English
ME
besetten
“to surround, attack, place with ornaments”
14th Century
English
beset
“to attack, encircle, or decorate”
Modern English
English
beset
“to trouble persistently or surround on all sides”