▪ I. ˈoverset, n.
[f. overset v.]
The act or fact of oversetting, in various senses of the vb.: † a. Overthrow, defeat. Obs. b. Overturn, upsetting, upset. † c. Putting off, postponement. Obs. † d. Overload, excess. Obs. e. Printing. Matter set up in excess of space.
| 1456 Sc. Acts Jas. II (1814) 45/2 Quhen ony gret ourset is lik to cum on the bordouraris þai think þe Inland men sulde be redy in þar supple. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 238 He wald nocht pay, bot geve him delayis and oursettis. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1628 [The king of France] knew rycht weill schortly to wndyrstand The gret supprys and ourset off Ingland. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1823) I. ii. 321 With this overset of wealth and pomp..they..became lazy and negligent. 1727 Philip Quarll 239, I..was over-set with the same Sea, under the flat bottom'd Boat, where you found me. That was a happy Overset for thee. 1789 Twining in Select. Papers T. Family (1887) 193, I suppose you have heard from my brother of my downfall?.. A thundering overset—such as might have been felt, I conceive, at the Antipodes. 1864 Webster, Overset,..An upsetting; ruin; overturn. 1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., Overset..Print. Excess of composition. 1896 MS. Let. from printer, We had some overset from Feb. number. |
▪ II. overset, v.
(əʊvəˈsɛt)
[over- 7, etc. An OE. *ofersęttan is not cited: cf. however OHG. ubarsezzan, MHG. übersetzen, to set (any one) over (e.g. a river), to set (with), to overburden, oppress; some of which senses also occur in ME.]
† 1. trans. To oppress; to press hard. Obs.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 51 And þat lond folc hem ouer⁓sette mid felefelde pine. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xix. (Tollem. MS.), Also ryȝtful lordshipe ouersetteþ not [non opprimit] his subiectis by tyraundes. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 182 This Prynce Dermot, Seynge hym-Selfe..hugely ouersette with enemys..flow ouer the See into Normandy. 1549 Compl. Scot. xv. 127, I am sa violently ouerset be them. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 59 b, The harte..whan hee is overset with houndes. |
† 2. To overcome, overpower by force or violence, overthrow, overwhelm, discomfit. Obs.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 772 A lyone..oure⁓set in his mouth hynt me. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 373/2 Ovyr settyn, or ovyr comyn, supero, vinco. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xx. xii, To wayte vpon sir launcelot for to ouersette hym and to slee hym. 1568 Grafton Chron. I. 116 Ethelfride king of Northumberlande overset the Britons at the Citie of Chester, and forced them to flee. 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 51 Decius..over set in the bosome of the Valley, tooke upon his own head..all the wrath of the Gods. |
| transf. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 144 Yet yf that wynd Vulturnus ouersette A vyne in heete. |
† b. fig. To overcome (the mind, feelings, etc.).
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 218 Thus he, whom gold hath over⁓set, Was trapped in his oghne net. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lxxiii, Ourset so sorow had bothe hert and mynd. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 27 Quhen sadnes hes ouerset my hart. 1698 Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 99 A Man whose Mind is fill'd and overset with these great Ideas. |
3. To cause to fall over; to upset, overturn, capsize; to turn upside down. Now rare. [over- 6.]
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. v. 137 The Barke thy body is..the windes thy sighes, Who..will ouer set Thy tempest tossed body. 1669 Pepys Diary 8 Mar., The King and the Duke of York went by three in the morning, and had the misfortune to be overset;..the King all dirty, but no hurt. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. v. (1840) 83, I overset my raft. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 110 Rushing forward, [he] overset the table, the bottles and glasses accompanying him in the fall. 1782 F. Burney Cecilia viii. v, The postilion, in turning too suddenly..overset the carriage. 1842 M. Russell Polynesia vi. (1849) 223 Their small vessel being overset, hope itself nearly deserted them. |
b. intr. To turn or fall over, capsize; to be overturned, upset. Now rare.
| 1641 Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Warres i. 4 He was like a ship which not fit to beare so great sayle, oversets. 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4305/3 The Hastings..Struck on the Sands, and..over-set. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §318 So violent a storm of wind, that he thought the house would overset. 1879 Stevenson Trav. Cevennes 11 It will assuredly topple and tend to overset. |
4. fig. a. trans. To upset or subvert the order or condition of (an institution, state, or the like); to cause to fall into confusion. Now rare.
| 1679 Crowne Amb. Statesman i. 8 I'le make 'em glad to give me Sea-room enough, or I'le oreset the Kingdom. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. xix, The sudden Surprize of Joy had over⁓set Nature, and I had dy'd upon the Spot. 1782 Crevecœur Lett. 79 Their ancient conquest had been a great detriment to them by over-setting their landed property. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. v, A certain Calypso-Island..as it were falsifies and oversets his whole reckoning. |
b. To overturn the normal mental or physical condition of (a person); to overcome mentally or physically; to discompose, disorder, ‘upset’ (the stomach, etc.).
| 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 1061 His contagious stomack Was sa owersett with Burdeous drummake. 1703 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. 195 A glorious appearance from the other world has often over-set the best men. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. ix, The smell of Lord R.'s boots and shoes was enough to overset her. 1861 Tennyson Let. in Life (1897) I. xxii. 476 France, I believe, overset me, and more especially the foul ways and unhappy diet of..Auvergne. 1870 Dickens E. Drood xiii, The news is sure to overset him. |
c. intr. To lose one's balance or ordered condition; to be upset, fall into disorder.
| 1749 G. Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists ii. (1754) Pref. 16 You was in Danger of oversetting from a Torrent of Popularity and Contempt. 1792 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 244 The late constitution of this country has overset. 1830 Tennyson Talking Oak 257 While kingdoms overset, Or lapse from hand to hand. |
† 5. trans. To set (a surface, a garment, etc.) over with (jewels, ornaments). Obs. [over- 8.]
| 14.. Tundale (Wagner) 1879 The whylke wer alle over sette and dight With besandes of gold and silver bright. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) I. 107 As bright as ivory overset with sapphires. |
† 6. trans. and intr. To put off, postpone. Obs.
| 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 162 That a prynce Sholde execute the dynte of Swerde in his enemy..not ouer⁓settynge the houre of fortune. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xc. 62 The synfull man that all the ȝeir our settis, Fra Pasche to Pasche, rycht mony a thing forȝettis. |
† 7. trans. To lay upon as an impost or burden, to impose. Obs. [over- 7.]
| c 1500 Melusine 301 The trybut that thou hast ouersette vpon the peuple of my lord. |
† 8. a. To overcharge, assess excessively. b. To overload. Obs. [over- 21, 27.]
| 1532 Tindale Exp. Matt. v-vii. Wks. (Parker Soc.) II. 71 The usurers and publicans..bought in great the emperor's tribute, and, to make their most advantage, did overset the people. c 1645 Howell Lett. iv. x. 12 Coming (for more frugality) in the common Boat, which was oreset with Merchandize, and other passengers, in a thick Fog the Vessell turn'd ore, and so many perished. |
† 9. a. To pass or get over. b. To set or settle over. Obs. [over- 5, 1.]
| 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 151 Na litil honour apperis to us quhilkis hes ouirset sa mony strait montanis, woddis, fludis, and dangerus firthis of this region. 1649 Howell Pre-em. Parl. 4 This fatal black Cloud, which now oresets this poor Island. |
10. To get over (an illness, etc.), recover from. dial. [over- 5.]
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 48 This Planctius..Throw sair seiknes that tyme..Set him so soir that he micht nocht ouirset, To God and nature quhill he payit his det. 1866 J. E. Brogden Provinc. Words Linc. (E.D.D.), He has overset his last ailment. 1877 N. W. Linc. Gloss. 1886 S. W. Linc. Gloss. s.v., I shall have to have some medicine before I overset it. It upset me, and she never seemed to overset it. |
† 11. In various uncertain senses, now Obs.
| c 1470 Harding Chron. cxlv. i, At Lancastre, y⊇ yere of Christ then writen, A thousand whole twoo C. and fourty mo, And one therto, in Flores as is wryten, And in the yere next after then ouersetten. a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. 152 And whiles they raunge to overset the groves. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 89 He that dealeth in barter must be very circumspect, and the money giuen in barter cannot be ouerset. 1729 Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 13 Dec., At 1 afternoon overset the Sheat Cable in the Hold, then Veered away. |
12. (ˌover-ˈset) To set up (type) in excess.
| 1897 W. T. Stead in Review of Rev. Jan. 75/1, I have arrived at a chronic state of over-setting. On the last day of the month a piteous scene of..slaughter takes place. |
Hence ˈoverset ppl. a.; overˈsetting ppl. a. (in quot. 1456 = off-putting, dilatory); also overˈsetter, one who oversets, † an oppressor.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 373/1 Ovyrledare (or ovyr settar), oppressor. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 243 And he be lathe, and our settand, and favourable in punycioun of mysdoaris. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xi. (1848) 230 One of those easily over-set Boats. |