A siege is a military attack in which an army surrounds a town, castle, or city to cut off supplies and force it to surrender. It usually lasts a long time.
“Siege” comes from Old French “sege” or “siège,” meaning seat or sitting, from Latin “sedere,” to sit. It originally referred to a seat or session, then to the act of sitting down before a place in order to attack it over time. The idea of ‘sitting around’ a city turned into a technical military term.
It’s odd but memorable: siege is related to sit, not to some dramatic war word. Armies in a siege literally ‘sit’ around a city until it gives up. That calm, patient image is the opposite of a quick battle and helps you remember the difference.
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