"S" Word Origins

self-loathing

Origin

From self- + loathing.

self-righteous

English

A compound of self and righteous, meaning righteous in one's own estimation.

selfie

Origin · 2002

Formed from self plus the informal -ie ending; first recorded in Australian English in 2002.

selfish

Origin

Formed from self plus -ish.

selfless

Origin

Formed from self plus -less.

selflike

Origin

From self + -like. Compare selfly.

selfsome

Origin

From self + -some.

selfy

Origin

From self + -y.

Selim

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic سليم (salīm, "safe, sound").

Selina

Latin

Possibly from Latin caelum ("heavenly"), or a variant of Selene.

sell

Old English

From Old English sellan, meaning "to give" or "to hand over for money" — the same Germanic root shows up in Swedish sälja and Danish sælge.

selldown

Origin

Deverbal from sell down.

Selleck

Origin

A variant of the surname Sellick.

seller

Middle English

From Middle English seller, sellere, (also siller, sullar, sullere), from Old English *sellere, *syllere, equivalent to sell + -er (agent noun) (sense 1) and sell + -er (patient) (sense 2). Cognate with Danish sælger, Swedish säljare, Icelandic seljari (“a seller; dealer”).

Sellers

Origin

A patronymic form of the occupational name Seller.

sellout

Origin

Formed from the phrasal verb sell out.

sellsword

Origin

From sell + sword. Compare hired gun.

selly

Origin

From Middle English selly, selly, sellich, from Old English sellīċ, seldlīċ (“rare, strange, wondrous”), from Proto-West Germanic *seldalīk, from Proto-Germanic *seldalīkaz, equivalent to seld + -ly. Cognate with Scots selly, silly (“approved, good, worthy”), Old Saxon seldlīk (“rare, wonderful”), Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (sildaleiks, “wonderful”).

Selma

Origin · 1965

From the city of Selma, Alabama, site of the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" attack on civil rights marchers; the city name itself came into fashion in the 19th century alongside similar-sounding names like Thelma and Wilma.

selsyn

Origin

Short for self-synchronizing.

Seltzer

German

From the German town Selters, famous for its naturally sparkling mineral springs; the name became a generic word for any fizzy water.

semantic

Greek

From Greek sēmantikos 'significant, having meaning', from sēmainein 'to signify', from sēma 'sign'.

semantics

Ancient Greek

From French sémantique, built from Ancient Greek sēmantikos, "significant," ultimately from sēma, "sign."

semasiology

Origin

From Ancient Greek σημασία (sēmasía, “the meaning of a word”) + -ology.

sematic

Origin

From Ancient Greek σήμᾰτος (sḗmătos), genitive of σῆμᾰ (sêmă, “sign, mark, token”), + -ic.

sematology

Origin

From Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma, “mark, sign”) + Ancient Greek -λογία (-logía, “-logy, branch of study”).

semblance

Latin

From Old French semblance, from sembler, "to seem or resemble," ultimately from Latin simulare, "to imitate."

semblant

Origin

Borrowed from French semblant. Doublet of simulant.

semble

Origin

From Middle English semblen, from Old French sembler (“to resemble”).

seme

Origin

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma).

sememe

Origin

Ultimately from Ancient Greek σημαίνω (sēmaínō, “I signify, I mean”) + -eme. Compare morpheme.

semen

Latin

From Latin semen, meaning "seed," from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to sow."

semester

Latin

From German Semester, from Latin sēmestris, "lasting six months," combining sex ("six") and mensis ("month").

semi

Latin

A shortening of the Latin prefix semi-, "half," used on its own as a noun.

semifinal

Latin

From Latin semifinalis, combining semi- ("half") with final.

seminal

Latin

From Latin sēminālis, "of seed," from sēmen, "seed" — the same root behind "seminar" and "disseminate."

seminar

Latin

From German Seminar, from Latin sēminārium, literally "seed-bed" — the same image behind "seminary."

seminary

Latin

From Latin sēminārium, "seed-bed," from sēmen, "seed" — the idea being a place where future clergy are "cultivated."

semiosis

Origin

Coined by Charles Sanders Peirce to describe a process that interprets signs as referring to their objects, as described in his theory of sign relations, or semiotics.

semiotic

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek σημειωτικός (sēmeiōtikós, “observant of signs”), ultimately derived from σῆμα (sêma, “mark, sign”). Compare semiotics.

semiotics

Origin

Coined by John Locke from Ancient Greek σημειωτικός (sēmeiōtikós, “fitted for marking, portending”), from σημειόω (sēmeióō, “to mark, interpret as a portend”), from σημεῖον (sēmeîon, “a mark, sign, token”), from σῆμα (sêma, “mark, sign”).

semipellucid

Origin

From semi- + pellucid.

semis

Latin

Borrowed directly from Latin sēmis, meaning "a half."

semisub

Origin

Clipping of semisubmersible. Analyzable as semi- + sub.

Semitic

Latin

From New Latin Semiticus, from Semita, from the Hebrew name Shem, one of Noah's sons, from whom the peoples so called were traditionally said to descend.

sempiternal

Origin

From Old French sempiternel, from Medieval Latin sempiternālis, from Latin sempiternus, a contraction of semperæternus, from semper (“always”) + æternus (“eternal”).

sempiternity

Origin

From sempitern(al) + -ity, from Latin sempiternitas.

semtex

Origin

Originally a trademark, blending Semtín — the Czech town where it was first made near Pardubice — with the word "explosive."