Word: Besot

besot \bih-SAHT\ verb

*1 : infatuate
2 : to make dull or stupid; especially : to muddle with drunkenness

Example sentence:
"The views besot me.... Fields of hay, wheat, and sunflowers, olive groves, and patches of forest spread out in every direction." (David Leavitt, Travel & Leisure, May 2000)

Did you know?
"Besot" developed from a combination of the prefix "be-" ("to cause to be") and "sot," a now archaic verb meaning "to cause to appear foolish or stupid." "Sot" in turn comes from the Middle English "sott," a noun meaning "fool." The first known use of "besot" is found in a poem by George Turberville, published in 1567. In the poem the narrator describes how he gazed at a beautiful stranger "till use of sense was fled." He then proceeds to compare himself to Aegisthus of Greek legend, the lover of Clytemnestra while Agamemnon was away at war, writing: "What forced the Fool to love / his beastly idle life / was cause that he besotted was / of Agamemnon's Wife."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

My sentence:
James' infatuation with libation was rather besotting.

Comments

[Vanessa]

Agh, yeah, that's irritating, I know. I have no power over that feature.

[Cyn]

Sorry about the comment feature delay.
I assumed that you are a very fast reader with the vast quality of blogs you read and comment in--very impressive!

P.S. I am not besotted with your comment feature either, having to retype my identifying info each time! :/ ;)

[Vanessa]

I don't think you can use it in anything but a passive construction now - so you can be besotted with someone, as in (drunk with?) love for them, but to actually actively besot someone is very very archaic, and comes from a slightly different root, where a sot is a drunk?
I may be wrong.

Damn these comments, they won't let me post more than once in a five minute period. I read fast, so sue me!