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Overset

//ˌəʊvəˈsɛt// adj, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective

1
Having been overset (verb sense).; Capsized, overturned, upset. not-comparable
"They groped their way, pushing and panting, to the road again, where, beholding the overset buggy with its wheels ludicrously in the air, they suddenly seized and shook each other, and in an outburst of hilarious ecstasy, fairly laughed until the tears came into their eyes."
2
Having been overset (verb sense).; Of copy or type: set in excess of a given space. not-comparable

Noun

1
Copy or type set in excess of a given space; (countable) an instance of this. uncountable
2
An act of knocking over or overturning; a capsize or capsizing, an overturning, an upset. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"[…] I vvas upon the Rock vvhen their Boat vvas daſh'd againſt it, and vvas over-ſet vvith the ſame Sea, under the flat bottom'd Boat, vvhere you found me. That vvas a happy Overſet for thee; vvell, is there no Gratitude due to Providence for thy Eſcape? due to Providence, ſaid he, vvhy, I thought you had ſav'd me?"
3
An excess, a surplus. countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable
"And vvith this overſet of vvealth and pomp, that came on men in the decline of their parts and age, they, vvho vvere novv grovving into old age, became lazy and negligent in all the true concerns of the Church: […]"

Verb

1
To knock over or overturn (someone or something); to capsize, to upset. transitive
"For ſtill thy eyes, vvhich I may call the ſea, / Do ebbe and flovve vvith teares, the Barke thy body is: / Sayling in this ſalt floud, the vvindes thy ſighes, / Who raging vvith thy teares and they vvith them, / VVithout a ſudden calme vvill ouerſet / Thy tempeſt toſſed body."
2
To physically or mentally disturb (someone); to upset; specifically, to make (someone) ill, especially nauseous; to nauseate, to sicken. figuratively, transitive
"O Lord, O Lord, ſhe's mad, poor Young VVoman, Love has turn'd her ſenſes, her Brain is quite overſet."
3
To throw (something, such as an organization, a plan, etc.) into confusion or out of order; to subvert, to unsettle, to upset. figuratively, transitive
"[H]ad not the old Man run and fetch'd me a Cordial, I believe the ſudden Surprize of Joy had overſet Nature, and I had dy'd upon the Spot."
4
To translate (a text). figuratively, rare, transitive
"Overset into English, after the spirits and measures of the authentical; by Dr. Heinrich Krauss, Ph.D., and so wider."
5
To set (copy or type) in excess of a given space. figuratively, transitive
"Other [newspaper] articles, again, are rejected because there is no time to consider them, or because they are badly written, and the printers have no time to lose in bungling over hieroglyphics. The overseer now sees that he will have too much matter; and although all the week he has been declaring that he has been kept short of copy, now goes on the opposite tack, to avoid upsetting, or, as he says, "oversetting.""

Show 11 more definitions

6
To recover from (an illness). Scotland, figuratively, transitive
7
To cover (the surface of something) with objects. obsolete, transitive
"Item, the bishop's great mitre, all oversett with orient pearle and stones, and silver ourgilt, the haill mitre extending to 5 pound 15 ounce weight."
8
To oppress or overwhelm (someone, their thoughts, etc.); to beset; also, to overpower or overthrow (someone, an army, a people, etc.) by force; to defeat, to overwhelm. obsolete, transitive
"[…] Brennus [i.e., Brennius] entending to haue more lande or all, aroſe againſt his brother Belyne [Belinus], and made vpon him ſharpe and mortall warre. In the which warre Brennus was ouerſet and compelled to flie the lande, and to ſayle to Armorica, nowe named little Briteyn, […]"
9
To press (something) down heavily; to compress; also, to choke (a plant). obsolete, transitive
"[T]he more they [holy plants] vvere oppreſsd and overſet vvith the vveight of Perſecution, the faſter, ſtronger, and ſtreighter they grevv up."
10
To put too heavy a load on (something); to overload. obsolete, transitive
"[C]oming (for more frugality) in the common Boat, vvhich vvas overſet vvith Merchandize, and other Paſſengers, in a thick fog, the Veſſel turn'd over, and ſo many periſh'd, the Prince Palſgrave ſav'd himſelf by ſvvimming, but the young Prince clinging to the Maſt, and being entangled among the Tacklings, vvas half drovvn'd and half frozen to death: A ſad Deſtiny."
11
To come to rest over (something); to settle. obsolete, rare, transitive
"It [tobacco] is a good Companion to one that converſeth vvith dead Men [i.e., reads books], for if one hath been poring long upon a Book, or is toil'd vvith the Pen, and ſtupified vvith Study, it quickneth him, and diſpels thoſe Clouds that uſually o'erſet the Brain."
12
To impose too heavy a tax on (someone); to overtax. figuratively, obsolete, rare, transitive
"For thieves love among themselves: and so do the covetous of the world, as the usurers and publicans, which brought in great the emperor's tribute, and to make their most advantage, did overset the people."
13
To recover (money) given in an exchange. obsolete, transitive
"[H]e that dealeth in barter muſt be very circumſpect, and the Money giuen in barter cannot be overſet."
14
To coil or stow away (a cable, a rope, etc.). obsolete, transitive
15
To turn, or to be turned, over; to capsize; to, or to be, upset. archaic, intransitive
"[T]his Raft vvas ſo unvveildy, and ſo overloaden, that after I vvas enter'd the little Cove, vvhere I had landed the reſt of my Goods, not being able to guide it ſo handily as I did the other, it overſet, and threvv me and all my Cargoe into the VVater; […]"
16
Of a person or thing (such as an organization or plan): to become unbalanced or thrown into confusion; to be put into disarray. intransitive, obsolete
"But, while kingdoms overset, / Or lapse from hand to hand, / Thy leaf shall never fail, nor yet / Thine acorn in the land."

Etymology

Etymology 1

PIE word *upér The verb is derived from Middle English oversetten (“to place or set over, cover; to assail; to defeat, overcome, overpower, overthrow; to defer; to discredit, refute; to disregard, overlook, set aside; to hinder; to oppress; to repulse”), from Old English ofersettan (“to put in a position of authority; to overcome or be overcome; to set over”), from Proto-West Germanic *ubarsattjan (“to place above, set over; to establish, install”), from *ubarsittjan (“to abstain from, neglect; to occupy, possess; to sit over or upon”), from *ubar- (prefix meaning ‘above, over’) + *sittjan (“to sit”) (from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną (“to sit”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”)). By surface analysis, over- (prefix meaning ‘above, higher; excessive, excessively’) + set (verb). Doublet of oversit. Verb sense 1.2.3 (“to translate (a text)”) is probably a calque of German übersetzen. The adjective is derived from overset, the past participle form of the verb. The noun is also derived from the verb. cognates * Dutch overzetten (“to ferry, transport, translate”) * Old High German ubarsezzen (Middle High German übersetzen, modern German übersetzen (“to cross over, translate”)) * Saterland Frisian uursätte (“to cross over, translate”) * Swedish översätta (“to translate”) * West Frisian oersette (“to translate”)

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

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