beleaguer

English

WOTD – 25 April 2010

Alternative forms

• beleagure

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch belegeren and/or Middle Low German belēgeren; equivalent to be- +‎ lair. Compare also German belagern. The English spelling was perhaps influenced by unrelated league.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈliː.ɡə/, /bəˈliː.ɡə/

  • Audio (UK)

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɪˈli.ɡɚ/
• Rhymes: -iːɡə(ɹ)

Verb

beleaguer (third-person singular simple present beleaguers, present participle beleaguering, simple past and past participle beleaguered)

1. To besiege; to surround with troops.
   • 1839, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Beleaguered City”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: Published by John Owen, OCLC 877448942, stanzas 1 and 2, page 22:

     I have read in some old marvellous tale, / Some legend strange and vague, / That a midnight host of spectres pale / Beleaguered the walls of Prague. // Beside the Moldau's rushing stream, / With the wan moon overhead, / There stood, as in an awful dream, / The army of the dead.

2. To vex, harass, or beset.
3. To exhaust.

Derived terms

• beleaguerment

Translations

to besiege; to surround with troops

• Armenian: պաշարել (hy) (pašarel), շրջապատել (hy) (šrǰapatel)
• Bulgarian: обсаждам (bg) (obsaždam)
• Czech: obléhat, oblehnout
• Dutch: belegeren (nl)
• Finnish: piirittää (fi)
• French: investir (fr), assiéger (fr)
• Georgian: ალყის შემორტყმა (alq̇is šemorṭq̇ma), ალყაში მოქცევა (alq̇aši mokceva), ალყა (alq̇a)
• German: belagern (de), umzingeln (de)

• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} beleire (no)

  Norwegian Nynorsk: omleire

• Portuguese: sitiar
• Romanian: împresura (ro), încercui (ro), asedia (ro), înconjura (ro)
• Russian: осажда́ть (ru) (osaždátʹ), окружа́ть (ru) (okružátʹ)
• Spanish: sitiar (es), asediar (es), cercar (es)

to vex, harass, or beset

• Armenian: անհանգստացնել (hy) (anhangstacʿnel)
• Czech: obtěžovat (cs)
• Dutch: belagen (nl)
• Finnish: kiusata (fi)

• German: bedrängen (de), belästigen (de), stören (de)
• Romanian: necăji (ro), irita (ro), supăra (ro), sâcâi (ro)
• Russian: беспоко́ить (ru) (bespokóitʹ), осажда́ть (ru) (osaždátʹ)
• Spanish: hostigar (es)

Anagrams

• beleagure