# overset

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˌəʊvəˈsɛt/

## Definitions
1. To knock over or overturn (someone or something); to capsize, to upset.
2. To physically or mentally disturb (someone); to upset; specifically, to make (someone) ill, especially nauseous; to nauseate, to sicken.
3. To throw (something, such as an organization, a plan, etc.) into confusion or out of order; to subvert, to unsettle, to upset.
4. To translate (a text).
5. To set (copy or type) in excess of a given space.
6. To recover from (an illness).
7. To cover (the surface of something) with objects.
8. To oppress or overwhelm (someone, their thoughts, etc.); to beset; also, to overpower or overthrow (someone, an army, a people, etc.) by force; to defeat, to overwhelm.
9. To press (something) down heavily; to compress; also, to choke (a plant).
10. To put too heavy a load on (something); to overload.
11. To come to rest over (something); to settle.
12. To impose too heavy a tax on (someone); to overtax.
13. To recover (money) given in an exchange.
14. To coil or stow away (a cable, a rope, etc.).
15. To turn, or to be turned, over; to capsize; to, or to be, upset.
16. Of a person or thing (such as an organization or plan): to become unbalanced or thrown into confusion; to be put into disarray.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *upér
The verb is derived from Middle English oversetten (“to place or set over, cover; to assail; to defeat, overcome, overpower, overthrow; to defer; to discredit, refute; to disregard, overlook, set aside; to hinder; to oppress; to repulse”), from Old English ofersettan (“to put in a position of authority; to overcome or be overcome; to set over”), from Proto-West Germanic *ubarsattjan (“to place above, set over; to establish, install”), from *ubarsittjan (“to abstain from, neglect; to occupy, possess; to sit over or upon”), from *ubar- (prefix meaning ‘above, over’) + *sittjan (“to sit”) (from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną (“to sit”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”)). By surface analysis, over- (prefix meaning ‘above, higher; excessive, excessively’) + set (verb). Doublet of oversit.
Verb sense 1.2.3 (“to translate (a text)”) is probably a calque of German übersetzen.
The adjective is derived from overset, the past participle form of the verb. The noun is also derived from the verb.
cognates
* Dutch overzetten (“to ferry, transport, translate”)
* Old High German ubarsezzen (Middle High German übersetzen, modern German übersetzen (“to cross over, translate”))
* Saterland Frisian uursätte (“to cross over, translate”)
* Swedish översätta (“to translate”)
* West Frisian oersette (“to translate”)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/overset