To make foolish or dull; to stupefy or befuddle someone.
Middle English from Old French 'assoter' (a- 'to' + sot 'fool'). Related to 'sot' (a drunkard). The word fell out of common use but survives in historical texts.
Shakespeare's generation used 'assot' to describe alcohol's effect on the mind, creating the image of drinking turning people into 'sots'—and the word disappeared precisely when people stopped using dramatic, character-based descriptions of intoxication.
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