v. Pa. t. and pple. begirt. [OE. begyrdan (= OHG. bigurten) f. bi-, BE- 1 + gyrdan:—OTeut. *gurdjan to GIRD.]
1. trans. To gird about or around; chiefly used of fastening a girdle or belt round the body, or of fastening on a sword by means of a belt. Also fig.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. xvii. 37. Þu me begyrdest mid mæʓenum.
c. 1315. Shoreham, 51. Hym with a touwayle schete Ihesus … by-gerte.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneis, I. (Arb.), 28. My deere sisters with quiuer closelye begyrded.
1768. Beattie, Minstr., II. xxxv. Breasts begirt with steel!
1860. Adler, Fauriel’s Prov. Poetry, xv. 399. Begirding the young warrior with the sword.
2. To encircle, encompass, enclose, with.
c. 890. K. Ælfred, Bæda, I. v. He þæt ealond begyrde and ʓefæstnade mid dice.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 378. Ȝunge mipen me bigurt mid þornes.
1622. Heylin, Cosmogr., II. (1682), 114. A Demi-Island begirt with rocks.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 581. Vthers Son Begirt with British and Armoric Knights.
1814. Cary, Dante’s Inf., XVIII. 11. Where … many a foss Begirds some stately castle.
1846. Longf., Occult. Orion, 33. Begirt with many a blazing star.
fig. 1633. G. Herbert, Sinne, in Temple, 37. Lord, with what care hast thou begirt us round!
1837. Miss Sedgwick, Live & Let Live, 62. With what blessings has a beneficent Providence begirt labor; with health and appetite, sweet sleep, and peace of mind!
† 3. spec. To beset in hostile array, to besiege. Obs. as a spec. use.
1587. Greene, Arcad. (1616), 62. Melicertus begirt the Castle with a siege.
1618. Bolton, Florus, II. xvi. 139. Now the City it selfe was begirt with a siege.
1643. [Angier], Lanc. Vall. Achor, 32. Lancaster called aloud for relief, having been begirt twenty dayes.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, II. 885. The Epean host had round Begirt the city.
