obsess
/əbˈsɛs/
verb
Origin
Latin
obsidere — to besiege, occupy, or haunt
Overview
Meaning Now
- To preoccupy or fill the mind of someone continually, intrusively, or to a troubling extent.
- To haunt or beset with obsessive thoughts, formerly often with the connotation of being possessed by an evil spirit.
Literal older meaning
to sit or stand before or against (from Latin 'ob-' + 'sedere')
Language path
Latin → Middle French → English
Earliest form
obsessus
Earliest period
16th century
Journey
The verb 'obsess' originated from the Latin 'obsidere', meaning to besiege or blockade. In its earliest English usage, it carried a strong sense of supernatural interference, specifically being 'haunted' or 'possessed' by a malevolent force. By the 19th and 20th centuries, the term underwent a semantic shift from a external, spiritual besieging to an internal, psychological state of fixation.
Evolution
- Latin
obsidere
“to besiege, blockade, or haunt”
Formed from 'ob' (before/against) and 'sedere' (to sit).
- Middle French
obséder
“to besiege or to haunt (as a spirit)”
- 16th-century English
obsess
“to beset, haunt, or trouble”
Initially used in the context of demonic possession.
- Modern English
obsess
“to preoccupy the mind”
Generalised to psychological preoccupation.
Connections
Word parts
ob-
prefix
against, before
sess
root
to sit
Related across languages
French
obséder
to haunt or to obsess
Italian
ossedere
to possess (spiritually) or to own
Related words
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Related to obsess
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.