besiege

/bəˈsiːd͡ʒ/

//bəˈsiːd͡ʒ// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"besiege" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“besiege” is uncommon English (frequency #62,001 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#62,001
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To beset or surround with armed forces for the purpose of compelling to surrender, to lay siege to, beleaguer.

Corpus desk

Index EN-besiege · besiege · English

besiege · rank #62,001 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #62,001
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Bergmann

Nearest frequency peer: Bergmann (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “besiege”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “besiege” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for besiege
PropertyValue
Headwordbesiege
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bəˈsiːd͡ʒ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#62,001
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “besiege” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).besiegefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Bergmann” (#62,000), “bilaterally” (#62,002), “binky” (#62,003). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “besiege” is #62,001. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

besiege is uncommon English at frequency #62,001 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /bəˈsiːd͡ʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for besiege in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English besegen, bisegen, equivalent to be- (“around, about”) + siege. The correct English form is besiege, spelled B-E-S-I-E-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To beset or surround with armed forces for the purpose of compelling to surrender, to lay siege to, beleaguer.
  2. 2
    To beleaguer, to vex, to lay siege to, to beset.
  3. 3
    to assail or ply, as with requests or demands.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how besiege appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. When it arrived, the train was headed by a "K" class 4-6-0 wood-burning locomotive, and a water-tank wagon next to the tender was immediately besieged by women and girls, clad in their picturesque national costume, all with empty kerosene tins for water, a scene which was re-enacted at each stop down the line.
  2. They should have inflicted a much heavier loss on their besieged opponents, the highlight being a late goal for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins on debut after he came on as a substitute.

Etymology

From Middle English besegen, bisegen, equivalent to be- (“around, about”) + siege.

This word in other languages

asediar(Español)assiéger(Français)belagern(Deutsch)cercar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "besiege"?
"besiege" is spelled B-E-S-I-E-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bəˈsiːd͡ʒ/.
What does "besiege" mean?
As a verb, "besiege" means: To beset or surround with armed forces for the purpose of compelling to surrender, to lay siege to, beleaguer.
How do you pronounce "besiege"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "besiege" is /bəˈsiːd͡ʒ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "besiege"?
From Middle English besegen, bisegen, equivalent to be- (“around, about”) + siege. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "besiege", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Beckley#61,997beanbag#61,995Bronwyn#62,018baklava#61,982

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list