Latin

Verb

obsideō ‎(present infinitive obsidēre, perfect active obsēdī, supine obsessum); second conjugation

1. I sit, remain, abide, stay.
2. I frequent, haunt, inhabit.
3. (transitive, military) I besiege; hem in, beset (a city).
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita libri 26.1

     Q. Fuluio Ap. Claudio, prioris anni consulibus, prorogatum imperium est atque exercitus quos habebant decreti, adiectumque ne a Capua quam obsidebant abscederent priusquam expugnassent.

     The military authority of Quintus Fulvius and Appius Claudius, consuls of the previous year, was extended and the armies which they had were decided upon, and it was added as a proviso that they should not withdraw from Capua, which they were besieging, until they conquered it.

   • 405, Jerome and others, Vulgate, Daniel 1:1

     anno tertio regni Ioachim regis Iuda venit Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis Hierusalem et obsedit eam

     In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.

4. (transitive) I detain, hold captive
5. I occupy, fill, possess.
6. I watch closely; I am on the lookout for.

Inflection

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• English: obsess
• French: obséder
• Italian: ossedere
• Spanish: obseder

References

• obsideo in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obsideo in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “obsideo”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to besiege a city: oppidum obsidere
    
  • (ambiguous) to give hostages: obsides dare
    
  • (ambiguous) to compel communities to provide hostages: obsides civitatibus imperare