besorrow

B3E1S1O1R1R1O1W4

verb

To sorrow about or over; care about; fill with care or sorrow; make sad.

Similar
becarebothercareconcern oneselfheedmindrecktrouble oneself
OriginMiddle English bisorȝen ← Old English besorgian ← Proto-West Germanic *bisorgōn →
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Meanings

verbbesorrow (third-person singular simple present besorrows, present participle besorrowing, simple past and past participle besorrowed)

present singular third person besorrows · participle present besorrowing · participle past besorrowed · past besorrowed

  1. ambitransitiveTo sorrow about or over; care about; fill with care or sorrow; make sad.

    Dear Peter, newly was I with the car in the town to besorrow me this and that for the holidays.

    1996, Wolfram Wilss, Knowledge and Skills in Translator Behavior
    3 more examples

    Then to the woman, for her offence, God did pronounce this sore sentence: All pleasure that you had'st besorrow Shall changed be in lasting sorrow.

    1776, Sir David Lindsay, The works of ... Sir David Lindsay of the Mount

    The land of the West holds a maiden sweet, And the fairest face has she; But, oh! she has also Chicago feet, And that's what besorrows me.

    1884, John Ames Mitchell, Life

    Oh, heart of man, when griefs deep scar Ploughs through thy and sand, When soul and sense besorrowed are, Lead, lark of love, 'yond sun and star; […]

    1931, William Chambers, Robert Chambers, Chambers's journal

    Synonyms: becare, becare, bother, care, concern oneself, heed, mind, reck

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo sorrow about or over; care about; fill with care or sorrow; make sad.

Similar
becarebecarebothercareconcern oneselfheedmindrecktrouble oneselfworryaggrievecondoledarkenengrieveermegloomgrievegrievenbleed
Also see
aggrieveattristbegloombegrievebring downcome down oncondolecontristatedarkendashdejectdepressdesolatedispiritengrieveermeforsetget a sad onget downgloomgrievegrievenlamentmoanmournoppressregretruesaddensadden upsighsorrowtristitiateungladdenunhappywayment

Origin

  1. Proto-West Germanic*bisorgōn
  2. Old Englishbesorgian“to regret; be anxious about, dread, shrink from”
  3. Middle Englishbisorȝen
  4. Englishbesorrow

From Middle English bisorȝen, from Old English besorgian (“to regret; be anxious about, dread, shrink from”), from Proto-West Germanic *bisorgōn, equivalent to be- + sorrow. Cognate with Saterland Frisian bisúurgje (“to obtain, get, take care of”), West Frisian besoargje (“to provide, deliver”), Dutch bezorgen (“to provide, deliver, take care of”), German besorgen (“to procure, acquire, attend to, take care of”), Swedish besörja (“to deal with, attend to”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

besorrow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besorrow

MLA

“besorrow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besorrow. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “besorrow,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/besorrow.

Source: besorrow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.