Word.ws English Dictionary

umbeset

umbeset verb: to block, obstruct; act detrimentally toward.

Verb

umbeset (third-person singular simple present umbesets, present participle umbesetting, simple past umbeset, past participle umbeset or umbesetten)

  1. (Scotland, archaic, dialectal) To block, obstruct; act detrimentally toward.
    • The Lord Gordon ships with some friends. Monro umbesets his way; yet he escapes, ignorant of Monro's devyse.1828, John Spalding, The history of the troubles and memorable transactions in Scotland
    • […] to underly the law at the lext Justice-aire of Renfrew, for umbesetting the high-way, by way of Murder;1891, William Robertson, Historic Ayrshire, volume 1, page 9
  2. (Scotland, archaic, dialectal) To overwhelm; cover completely.
    • The Opponents Umbeset with Trickery.1885, John Humberger, The Conquest and Triumph of Divine Wisdom and Love in Predestination, J. L. Traiger, unmarked page
    • But soothly, of sithes the more I am umbeset with anguish of heart, and destitute of all men’s comfort, the more favourable and godly I find her to me.1952, Walter Milton, The Goad of Love, Faber & Faber, page 201

Examples of umbeset in a sentence

  • […] , and pressing to have bereft them of their lives by umbesetting of the high gates to that effect at divers times of before, […]1922, J. Maitland Thomson, The Public Records of Scotland, Maclehose, Jackson and co., page 48
  • Certainly a good soul umbeset with many diseases, and noyed with the heat of temptation, can not feel the sweetness of God’s love as it is in itself;1971, Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love, CCEL, page 164:

Forms of umbeset

third-person singular presentumbesets
present participleumbesetting
pastumbeset
past participleumbeset
past participleumbesetten

Origin of umbeset

From Middle English umbesetten (“to surround”), from Old English ymbsettan (“to set around, surround, beset, encompass”), from Proto-West Germanic *umbisattjan (“to set around, encompass”); equivalent to um- + beset or umbe- + set. Compare also Old English ymbsittan (“to sit around, surround”), Dutch omzetten (“to convert, transpose”), German umsetzen (“to move to another place, convert, transform, transplant, adjust, rearrange”).

Words formed from umbeset

Questions about umbeset

What does umbeset mean?
Umbeset means to block, obstruct; act detrimentally toward.
How do you use umbeset in a sentence?
[…] , and pressing to have bereft them of their lives by umbesetting of the high gates to that effect at divers times of before, […]
What part of speech is umbeset?
Umbeset is a verb.
What is the past tense of umbeset?
The past tense of umbeset is umbeset.

Words near umbeset in the dictionary

  1. umbery
  2. umbeschew
  3. umbeschewed
  4. umbeschewing
  5. umbeschews
  6. umbeset
  7. umbesets
  8. umbesetting
  9. umbethink
  10. umbethinking
  11. umbi

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: umbeset (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: “umbeset.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/umbeset. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.