besot

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The Word of the Day for March 24 is:

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.