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besetting

verb

Etymology

From beset + -ing.

  1. inherited from *sed-✻ — “to sit”
  2. inherited from *h₁epi✻ — “at; near; on”
  3. inherited from *bisatjaną✻ — “to fill, occupy”
  4. inherited from *bisattjan✻
  5. inherited from besettan
  6. inherited from besetten
  7. suffixed as besetting — “beset + ing”

Definitions

  1. present participle and gerund of beset

  2. The act of one who besets or attacks.

    • I might also here tell you of the contests and battles that such are engaged in, wherein they find the besettings of Satan, above any other of the saints.

  3. Deeply rooted

    Deeply rooted; persistent.

    • Rickie would not push himself. It was his besetting sin.
    • I did not then know the besetting sin of woman, the passion to discuss her private affairs with anyone who is willing to listen.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. Obsessive

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for besetting. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA