set about

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English

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WOTD – 8 November 2024

Etymology

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From set (verb) + about (adverb, preposition).[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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set about (third-person singular simple present sets about, present participle setting about, simple past and past participle set about)

  1. Used with the adverb sense of about.
    1. (transitive, archaic except chiefly Northern England) To circulate or spread (news, a rumour, etc.)
      • a. 1716 (date written), [Gilbert] Burnet, “Book IV. Of the Reign of King James II.”, in [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume I, London: […] Thomas Ward […], published 1724, →OCLC, page 663:
        For ſome vveeks before it [Parliament] met there vvas ſuch a number of Refugees coming over every day, vvho ſet about a moſt diſmal recital of the perſecution in France, and that in ſo many inſtances that vvere crying and odious, […]
  2. Used with the preposition sense of about.
    1. (transitive)
      1. (archaic) To plant trees or other vegetation in (a place).
      2. (passive voice, archaic) To encircle or surround (something) with other things.
      3. (UK, informal) To attack (someone); to set upon.
        Synonym: begin upon
        Two youths set about him.
    2. (intransitive) To start doing or to devote oneself to some task; to set upon.
      Synonyms: begin upon, embark on, (one sense) set to, take in hand
      He set about designing his homepage.
      • 1534 (date written; published 1553), Thomas More, “A Dyalogue of Comforte agaynste Tribulacyon, […]. Of the Deuill Named Negotium Perambulans in Tenebris, that is to Wit, Busines Walking in the Darkenesses.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book II, page 1202, column 2:
        He [the Devil] ſetteth (I ſay) ſome to ſeeke the pleaſures of the fleſhe, in eating, drinking, & other filthye delite. And ſome he ſetteth about inceſſant ſeking for theſe worldly goodes.
      • a. 1660 (date written), [Francis Osborne?], “Cent[ury] I”, in The Advice of a Father: Or, Counsel to a Child. […], London: […] J. R. [John Royston?] for Brabazon Aylmer, […], published 1688, →OCLC, section V, page 3:
        Be not ſloathful in buſineſs, ſet to vvhatever thou ſetteſt about; Do vvhat thou doſt in as little time as thou canſt, and vvith all thy might, vvhat thy hand finds to do.
      • 1666 March 2 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 20 February 1666]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 384:
        To ye Commissrs of the Navy, who having seene the project of the Infirmary, encourag'd the work, and were very earnest it should be set about immediately; […]
      • a. 1716 (date written), [Gilbert] Burnet, “The Preface”, in [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume I, London: […] Thomas Ward […], published 1724, →OCLC, page 3:
        I look on the perfecting of this vvork, and the carrying it on thro' the remaining part of my life, as the greateſt ſervice I can do to God and to the vvorld; and therefore I ſet about it vvith great care and caution.
      • a. 1775 (date written), [Paul] Scarron, “The Rival Brothers”, in Oliver Goldsmith, transl., The Comic Romance of Monsieur Scarron, […], volume II, London: […] W. Griffin, […], published 1775, →OCLC, page 172:
        About this time Don Sancho's ſervant arrived at Seville, and according to the orders he had received, immediately ſat[sic] about enquiring into Dorothea's conduct.
      • 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XII, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume II (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 307:
        Let every man and woman here set about their ain business, as if there was nae sic thing as marquis or master, duke or drake, laird or lord, in this world.
      • 1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 182–183:
        [T]he return of the King, to which I and many looked forward as a manifestation of divine favour, seems to prove little else than a permitted triumph of the Prince of the Air, who setteth about to restore his Vanity-fair of bishops, deans, and such like, extruding the peaceful ministers of the word, whose labours have proved faithful to many hungry souls.
      • 1864 (date delivered), John Ruskin, “Lecture I.—Sesame. Of Kings’ Treasuries.”, in Sesame and Lilies. Two Lectures Delivered at Manchester in 1864. […], London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], published 1865, →OCLC, page 5:
        [T]his essential education might be more easily got, or given, than they fancy, if they set about it in the right way; while it is for no price, and by no favour, to be got, if they set about it in the wrong.
      • 1865, W[illiam] E[wart] Gladstone, “Place of Ancient Greece in the Providential Order”, in Gleanings of Past Years, 1860–79, volume VII (Miscellaneous), London: John Murray, […], published 1879, →OCLC, paragraph 5, page 34:
        Now, it is not in the general, the ordinary, the elementary way, but it is in a high and special sense, that I claim for ancient Greece a marked, appropriated, distinctive place in the Providential order of the world. And I will set about explaining what I mean.
      • 1889, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket”, in Micah Clarke: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co […], →OCLC, page 313:
        "Then we had best set about our part of the contract," said Hector Marot.
      • 1963 June, “News and Comment: Road–rail Co-operation”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 362:
        No time has been lost in setting about the implementation of non-controversial [Richard] Beeching proposals.
      • 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in The A.V. Club‎[1], archived from the original on 2022-10-25:
        A book is a book and a movie is a movie, and whenever the latter merely sets about illustrating the former, it's a failure of adaptation, to say nothing of imagination.

Conjugation

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Conjugation of set about
infinitive (to) set about
present tense past tense
1st-person singular set about set about
2nd-person singular set about, settest about† set about, -†
3rd-person singular sets about, setteth about† set about
plural set about
subjunctive set about set about
imperative set about —
participles setting about set about

†Archaic or obsolete.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “to set about, phrasal v.” under “set, v.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2024; “set about, phrasal v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
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