compassen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• compasse, conpassen, cumpasen, cumpasse, cumpassen

Etymology

From Old French compasser; equivalent to compass +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kumˈpasən/, /ˈkumpasən/

Verb

compassen (third-person singular simple present compasseth, present participle compassende, compassynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle compassed)

1. To consider or ponder; to mentally explore:
   1. (rare) To attain knowledge or comprehension of something.
   2. (rare) To decide or select; to reach a decision or course of action.
   3. (rare) To assume or remember; to be mindful of something.
2. To launch an endeavor or enterprise; to act or accomplish:
   1. To plan or scheme, especially surreptitiously or malignly.
      • a. 1382, John Wycliffe, “Psalms 108:1-3”, in Wycliffe's Bible:

        The title of the hundrid and eiȝtthe ſalm. To victorye, the ſalm of Dauid. / God, holde thou not ſtille my preiſyng; for the mouth of the ſynner, and the mouth of the gileful man is openyd on me. / Thei ſpaken ayens me with a gileful tunge, and thei cumpassiden me with wordis of hatrede; and fouȝten ayens me with out cauſe.

        The title of the one hundred and eighth psalm: "To Victory; the Psalm of David". / God; don't hold still my praising, as the mouths of the sinners and the mouths of the guilty have opened against me. / They spoke against me with a guilty tongue, they plotted against me with words of hatred, and they fought against me without justification.

   2. To create or invent; to bring into existence.
3. To cover or surround; to have inside or within.
4. To travel throughout or within a region.
5. (rare) To avoid or bypass when traveling.
6. (rare) To use a compass (tool for drawing a circle)

Conjugation

Conjugation of compassen (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) compassen, compasse
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	compasse	compassed
2nd-person singular	compassest	compassedest
3rd-person singular	compasseth	compassed
subjunctive singular	compasse
imperative singular		—
plural1	compassen, compasse	compasseden, compassede
imperative plural	compasseth, compasse	—
participles	compassynge, compassende	compassed, ycompassed

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: compass

References

• “compassen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-01-22.