Standard Lemma guide

besit

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • rhymes with -ɪt

1

verb

Meaning 1

To sit around; sit about; besiege.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To sit upon; occupy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To sit properly upon, as clothes; to suit; become.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

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).