Obsess
/əbˈsɛs/noun
To preoccupy the mind in a persistent and often distressing way.
Did you know?Obsess traces back to Latin obsidēre, a military term for “to sit down before” a city, so the modern psychological word began as the language of encirclement and siege.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sed-
“to sit”
Latin
Latin
obsidēre
“to sit before, besiege; to blockade”
Late Latin
Latin
obsessus
“beset, occupied, haunted”
Middle French
Old French
obsesser
“to besiege, trouble, haunt”
16th Century
English
obsess
“to haunt or trouble persistently; later, to preoccupy the mind intensely”
Modern English
English
obsess
“to occupy the mind persistently and distressingly”