siege

English

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siege

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• syege (15th–16th centuries)

Etymology

From Middle English sege, from Old French sege, siege, seige (modern French siège), from Vulgar Latin *sēdicum, from Latin sēdicŭlum, sēdēcula (“small seat”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sēj IPA^(key): /siːd͡ʒ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sid͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːd͡ʒ

Noun

siege (plural sieges)

1. (heading) Military action.
   1. (military) A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
      • 1748, [David Hume], chapter 3, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, page 5:

        The Peloponnesian war is a proper subject for history, the siege of Athens for an epic poem, and the death of Alcibiades for a tragedy.

      • 2001, Alfred S. Bradford, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World‎, Praeger, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 145:

        Liu Pang's general Han Hsin won the strategic city of Hsing-yang for him, but Hsiang-Yü put Liu Pang under siege there.

   2. (US) A period of struggle or difficulty, especially from illness.
   3. (figuratively) A prolonged assault or attack.
      • 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:

        But once again Hodgson's men found a way to get the result they required and there is a real air of respectability about their campaign even though they had to survive a first-half siege from a Ukraine side desperate for the win they needed to progress.

2. (heading) A seat.
   1. (obsolete) A seat, especially as used by someone of importance or authority.
      • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book V:

        Now Merlyn said kyng Arthur / goo thow and aspye me in al this land l knyghtes whiche ben of most prowesse & worship / within short tyme merlyn had founde suche knyȝtes […] Thenne the Bisshop of Caunterbury was fette and he blessid the syeges with grete Royalte and deuoycyon / and there sette the viij and xx knyghtes in her syeges

        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

        To th'vpper part, where was aduaunced hye / A stately siege of soueraigne maiestye; / And thereon sat a woman gorgeous gay […].

   2. (obsolete) An ecclesiastical see.
   3. (obsolete) The place where one has his seat; a home, residence, domain, empire.
   4. The seat of a heron while looking out for prey.
   5. A flock of heron.
   6. (obsolete) A toilet seat.
   7. (obsolete) The anus; the rectum.
      • 1650, Thomas Browne, chapter III, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: , 2nd edition, London: A Miller, for Edw Dod and Nath Ekins, , →OCLC, 1st book, page 17:

        Another ground were certain holes or cavities observable about the siege; which being perceived in males, made some conceive there might be also a feminine nature in them.

   8. (obsolete) Excrements, stool, fecal matter.
      • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

        Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam'st thou / to be the siege of this moon-calf? Can he vent Trinculos?

   9. (obsolete) Rank; grade; station; estimation.
      • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

        I fetch my life and being / From men of royal siege.

   10. (obsolete) The floor of a glass-furnace.
3. (obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.

Synonyms

• (place with a toilet seat): See Thesaurus:bathroom

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

siege (third-person singular simple present sieges, present participle sieging, simple past and past participle sieged)

1. (transitive, uncommon) To assault or blockade a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition; to besiege.

   Synonym: besiege

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Geise, Giese

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

siege

1. inflection of siegen:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. singular imperative
   3. first/third-person singular subjunctive I

Middle French

Noun

siege m (plural sieges)

1. siege (prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition)
2. seat (place where one sits)

Descendants

• French: siège