mid-14c., overberen, "to carry over, transfer, convey," a sense now obsolete (rendering Latin transferre), from over- + bear (v.). Meaning "to bear down by weight of physical force, overpower," is from 1535 (in Coverdale), originally nautical, of an overwhelming wind; figurative sense of "to overcome and repress by power, authority, etc." is from 1560s.
