siege

• syege (15th - 16th centuries)

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”).

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• enPR: sēj IPA^(key): /siːdʒ/
• Rhymes: -iːdʒ

siege (plural sieges)

1. (heading) Military action.
   1. A prolonged military assault or a blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition.
      • 1748, David Hume, Enquiry concerning Human Understanding, Section 3 §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.

   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, chapter 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

      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, II.vii:

        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; a flock of heron.
   5. (obsolete) A toilet seat.
   6. (obsolete) The anus; the rectum.
      • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, III.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.

   7. (obsolete) Excrements, stool, fecal matter.
      • 1610, The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, act 2 scene 2

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

   8. (obsolete) Rank; grade; station; estimation.
      • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)

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

   9. (obsolete) The floor of a glass-furnace.
   10. (obsolete) A workman's bench.

       (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

3. (obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.

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

• siegehouse
• siege tower

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

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

   Synonym: besiege

• Geise, Giese

siege

1. First-person singular present of siegen.
2. Imperative singular of siegen.
3. First-person singular subjunctive I of siegen.
4. Third-person singular subjunctive I of siegen.

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)