The Wednesday Word

I've realized that as a writer I need to expand my vocabulary. So every Wednesday I'm going to share a word with you and use it in my blog that day. That way we can all learn together!

besot • \bih-SAHT\ • verb

*1 : infatuate

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

Example Sentence:

Long besotted with the pretty file clerk who worked in his office, Keith finally worked up the nerve to ask her out to lunch.

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 noun "sott," 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."


I never knew that I could be so besotted with one little person that can't even talk yet. Yesterday Dutch and I sat outside on a blanket while Chris and Bo played fetch. It was so interesting to watch the way he took everything in. He ran his fingers through the grass and seemed to enjoy the way it tickled his palm. When the wind would blow he would look up and let it run past his chubby cheeks. Because this was his first time outside in the grass he wasn't daring enough to venture off the blanket. Perhaps next time.

This is a beautiful image and I don't want to spoil it by telling you that Dutch tried to eat the grass . . . repeatedly.