Besit
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To sit around; sit about; besiege. transitive
"When not deep in thought, his blue eyes dance. I feel sometimes that behind his thoughtful gaze besits a hint of strain."
- 2 To sit upon; occupy. transitive
"In such contexts, the ישבים are those who “besit” large estates and seats of judgment and power. The ישב par excellence is the king who “besits” the throne."
- 3 To sit properly upon, as clothes; to suit; become. obsolete, transitive
Example
More examples"When not deep in thought, his blue eyes dance. I feel sometimes that behind his thoughtful gaze besits a hint of strain."
Etymology
From Middle English besitten, from Old English besittan (“to sit round, surround, beset, besiege, hold, council, occupy, possess”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisittjan, from Proto-Germanic *bisitjaną (“to sit near, sit among or around”), equivalent to be- + sit. Cognate with Dutch bezitten, German besitzen, Norwegian Bokmål besitte, Danish besidde, Swedish besitta, Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bisitan).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.