Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BE-NUM', or BE-NUMB', v.t. [Sax. beniman, benyman, pp. benumen, to seize, of be and niman, Sax. and Goth., to take or seize. This root is retained in withernam. It is to be observed that b after m in numb, thumb, dumb, &c., is an arbitrary addition of modern writers.]

1. To make torpid; to deprive of sensation; as, a hand or foot benumbed by cold.
2. To stupefy; to render inactive; as, to benumb the senses. – Dryden.