Word.ws English Dictionary

besetten

besetten is the alternative past participle of beset.

Meaning of beset

Verb

beset (third-person singular simple present besets, present participle besetting, simple past and past participle beset)

  1. (transitive, literal or figurative) To assail or attack (someone) from all sides; to set about.
    • He that hath read Seneca or Boethius, is well provided against any ordinary misfortune; and to have by heart the story of Argalus and Parthenia; the dolorous madrigals of old Plangus in the Arcadia; or the history of Pyramus and Thisbe, is a never failing remedy for the mubble-fubbles: For to be...1654, Edmund Gayton, Festivous notes on the history and adventures of the renowned Don Quixote
  2. (transitive) To occupy and block (an entrance, a passage, etc.), especially to prevent people from passing.
  3. (transitive, chiefly passive voice) To decorate (someone or something) by surrounding with accessories, etc.
  4. (archaic, transitive) Followed by with: to encircle or surround (someone or something); to hem in.
    • For thou, deere Lord, thou me besett'st; / Thy rodd and thy staff be / To comfort me: […]a. 1587 (date written), Philip Sidney, “Psalm XXIII. Dominus regit me.”, in The Psalmes of David […], London: From the Chiswick Press by C[harles] Whittingham, for Robert Triphook, […], published...
  5. (archaic, transitive, chiefly passive voice) To trap (a ship) within frozen sea; to ice in.
  6. (figuratively, transitive) Of dangers, difficulties, enemies, etc.: to negatively affect (someone or something); to trouble.
    • Fred Brentnall, in his squeaky lorikeet voice reads to the House Lawson's last two stanzas, just to highlight the danger besetting the colony of Queensland, indeed, the whole country:[…]2006, Pip Wilson, “If Blood should Stain the Wattle”, in Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push, 3rd edition, Coffs Harbour, N.S.W.: [Pip Wilson], published...

See all 14 meanings of beset

Origin of besetten

From Middle English besetten, beseten, from Old English beseten, past participle of Old English besittan (“to sit around, beset”).

Questions about besetten

What is besetten the alternative past participle of?
Besetten is the alternative past participle of beset.

Words near besetten in the dictionary

  1. Beserras
  2. beset
  3. besetment
  4. besetments
  5. besets
  6. besetten
  7. besetter
  8. besetters
  9. besettest
  10. besetting
  11. besettings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: besetten (page history and authors); beset (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “besetten.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/besetten. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.