Besiege

Besiege (pronounced bih-seej)

(1) In military parlance, to lay siege to (to surround a fortified area, especially a city) with military forces to bring about its surrender.

(2) To crowd around; crowd in upon; surround:

(3) To assail or ply, as with requests or demands.

1250-1300: From the Middle English besegen & bisegen, the construct being be- + siege.  The be- prefix is from the Middle English be- & bi- from the Old English be- from the Proto-Germanic bi- (be-) (near, by), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European hepi (at, near); source of the Modern English by.  Siege is from the Middle English sege from Old French sege, siege & seige (from which Modern French gained siège) from the Vulgar Latin sēdicum from the Latin sēdicŭlum & sēdēcula (small seat), from the Latin sēdēs (seat).  An alternative spelling during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was syege but it didn’t survive the evolution into Modern English.  Although not wholly synonymous, related words include encircle, beleaguer, beset, blockade, trap, harass, hound, plague, pester, invest, attack, congregate, environ, assail, encompass, confine, nag, importune, harry, trouble & harry.  Besiege, besieged & besieging are verbs, besiegement & besieger are nouns and besiegingly is an adverb.  

Historic meanings

Siege is one of the words in English which, purely by organic evolution, now has essentially one meaning (in both a military & figurative sense) but which, from time to time, enjoyed many meanings, all now obsolete.  They included:

(1) A seat, especially as used by someone of importance or authority.
(2) An ecclesiastical office’s geographical limits.
(3) The place where one has their home, residence or domain.
(4) A toilet seat.
(5) The anus; the rectum.
(6) Excrements, stool, fecal matter.
(7) Rank; grade; station; estimation.
(8) The floor of a glass-furnace.
(9) A workman's bench.
(10) A place with a toilet seat: outhouse; the loo, lavatory.

Besieged by demons: St Catherine of Siena besieged by demons, tempera and gold on panel by an anonymous artist from Lesser Poland, circa 1500.  On display in the National Museum, Warsaw since 1947.

Besieged by fan mail: Lindsay Lohan and the "Free Lindsay" campaign, Los Angeles, 2012.