"S" Word Origins

seem

Old English

From Old Norse soema, "to conform to, befit," related to Old English seman, "to reconcile."

Seema

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit सीमा (sīmā, "boundary").

seeming

Origin

Formed from seem plus -ing.

seemingly

Origin

Formed from seeming plus the adverb suffix -ly.

seemliness

Origin

From Middle English semelynes, semlynesse, equivalent to seemly + -ness.

seemly

Origin

From Middle English semly, semely, semelich, from Old Norse sœmiligr (“seemly”); equivalent to seem + -ly. Cognate with Icelandic sæmilegur (“seemly, passable”), Danish sømmelig (“seemly”).

seen

Arabic

From Arabic سِين (sīn).

seep

Germanic

A variant of the older English word sipe, from a Germanic root meaning "to drip or trickle" — related to the German word for tallow, sebum-like fats that slowly ooze.

seer

Middle English

From Middle English seere, simply "one who sees" — see plus the agent ending -er.

seesaw

Origin

Likely an imitative, repeated word mimicking rhythmic back-and-forth motion, in the same family as "teeter-totter" and "zigzag"; possibly also influenced by the verbs "see" and "saw."

seethe

Origin

The verb is derived from Middle English sethen, seeth (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”) [and other forms], from Old English sēoþan (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuþan, from Proto-Germanic *seuþaną (“to boil, seethe”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂sewt-, *h₂sew-, *h₂sut- (“to move about, roil, seethe”). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Danish syde (“to seethe, boil”) * Dutch zieden (“to boil, seethe”) * German sieden (“to boil, seethe”) * Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (sauþs, “burnt offering, sacrifice”) * Icelandic sjóða (“to boil, seethe”) * Low German seden (“to seethe”) * Norwegian Bokmål syde (“to boil, seethe”) * Norwegian Nynorsk sjoda, syda (“to boil, seethe”) * Scots seth, seith (“to seethe”) * Swedish sjuda (“to boil, seethe”) * West Frisian siede (“to boil”)

seething

Middle English

From Middle English sethyng, from the verb seethe ("to boil") plus -ing.

seg

Origin

From Middle English segge, from Old English seċġ (“man, warrior, hero”), from Proto-West Germanic *sagi, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaz (“follower, retainer, warrior”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow, accompany”). Cognate with Norwegian segg, Icelandic seggur (“bully”).

Segal

Hebrew

Borrowed from Hebrew סגל (Segel).

Segawa

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 瀬川 (Segawa).

segment

Latin

From Latin segmentum, "a piece cut off," from secare, "to cut."

segregation

Latin · 1555

Recorded from 1555, from Latin segregatio, built from segregate plus -ion.

segregationism

Origin

From segregation + -ism.

segue

Italian

Borrowed from Italian segue, "it follows," originally a musical direction meaning the next passage should play without a pause.

Segundo

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Segundo; this surname is predominantly found in Mexico.

Segway

English

The trademark was coined as a respelling of segue (from Italian segue, 'it follows'), chosen to suggest a smooth transition. The spelling's resemblance is deliberate, which is why 'segway' is now such a common misspelling of segue in writing.

sei

Norwegian

From Norwegian seihval, combining sei ("pollock") with hval ("whale"), since the whales were often seen near pollock shoals.

Seiji

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese せいじ (Seiji).

seine

Ancient Greek

From Old English seġne, tracing back through Latin sagena to Ancient Greek sagene, "dragnet."

seism

Origin

From Ancient Greek σεισμός (seismós, “shaking; earthquake”).

seismic

Ancient Greek

Built from Ancient Greek seismos, "shaking, earthquake," plus the adjective ending -ic.

seiyuu

Origin

Borrowed from Japanese 声優 (seiyū), from Middle Chinese 聲 (*ɕiɛ̝ŋ, “sound, voice”) + 優 (*ʔɨu, “actor”).

seize

Origin

Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną, *sakōną (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *sakaną (compare Old Saxon sakan (“to accuse”), Old High German sahhan (“to bicker, quarrel, rebuke”), Old English sacan (“to quarrel, claim by law, accuse”). Cognate to sake and Latin sāgiō (“to perceive acutely”).

seizing

Origin

From seize plus the -ing ending.

seizure

Old French

From seize, from Old French saisir, meaning to take possession of, from which the medical sense developed via the older idea of being seized by an illness.

seizure

Origin

From seize plus the noun ending -ure.

seki

Japanese

Borrowed directly from the Japanese term seki.

selah

Hebrew

From Hebrew סֶלָה (selah), a term appearing in the Psalms and in Habakkuk. Its precise meaning is unknown; it may be connected to a root meaning 'to lift up' or 'to raise'.

Selby

Old Norse

From Old Norse selja ("willow") and býr ("settlement, farm").

selcouth

Origin

From Middle English selcouth, from Old English selcūþ, seldcūþ (“unusual, unwonted, little known, unfamiliar, novel, rare”), from seld- (“rarely”) + cūþ (“known”); equivalent to seld + couth.

seld

Origin

From Middle English selde (“seat, store”), from Old English seld (noun), neuter, metathetic form of setl (noun) (English settle).

seldom

Old English

From Old English seldan, "seldom," related to German selten and Dutch zelden.

select

Latin

From Latin selectus, "chosen out," from se- ("apart") plus legere ("to gather, choose").

selection

Latin

From Latin selectio, from seligere 'to choose out', from se- 'apart' and legere 'to gather, choose'.

Selena

Latin

Either a variant of Selina, from Latin caelum ("sky"), or from Selene, the Greek moon goddess.

Selene

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Σελήνη (Selḗnē), from σέλας (sélas, "light").

selenic

Origin

From selen- + -ic.

selenite

Origin

From Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) + -ite; the chemistry sense comes via the name of the element selenium.

selenium

Origin

From French sélénium, the name coined by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1818 from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) in reference to original confusion with the similar element tellurium.

self

Old English

From Old English self/seolf, going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "one's own," shared with German selbst and Dutch zelf.

self-actualization

Origin

From self- + actualization. Probably applied in this sense by Abraham Maslow.

self-awareness

Origin

From self- + awareness. Also equivalent to self-aware + -ness, though attested earlier.

self-esteem

Latin

From self plus esteem, which comes through Old French from Latin aestimare 'to value, to appraise'.