"S" Word Origins

sessile

Origin

From Latin sessilis (“sitting”), from sessus, perfect passive participle of verb sedeō (“to sit”), + adjective suffix -ilis. Compare session.

session

Latin

From Latin sessio ("a sitting"), from sedere ("to sit").

sestet

Origin

From Italian sestetto, from sesto (“sixth”), Latin sextus, from sex (“six”).

seston

Origin

From German Seston, by surface analysis, Ancient Greek σηστός (sēstós, “sifter”, verbal adjective of σήθω (sḗthō, “I strain, filter”)) + -on. Compare plankton.

set

Old English

From Old English settan, "to make sit" — the causative form of sit.

setback

Origin

Formed from the phrase "set back," describing something that pushes progress backward.

Seth

Hebrew

From Hebrew Sheth, meaning "appointed" or "granted."

Setsuko

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese せつこ (Setsuko).

sett

Origin

A variant of set to distinguish various technical senses.

settee

Origin

Possibly from settle ("a long bench") plus the diminutive suffix -ee; the exact origin is uncertain.

setter

Origin

From set + -er, "one who sets"; the dog breed is named for the way it "sets," or freezes, when it scents game.

setting

Origin

From set + -ing.

settle

Old English

From Old English setlan ("to seat, put to rest"), related to setl ("seat"); merged over time with a separate verb meaning "to reconcile."

settlement

Origin

From settle + -ment.

settler

Origin

From settle + -er.

settlor

Origin

From settle + -or.

setup

Origin

A deverbal noun formed from the phrasal verb "set up."

seven

Latin

From Old English seofon, from Proto-Germanic *sebun, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *septm, the same root behind Latin septem and Greek hepta.

seventeen

Old English

From Old English seofontiene, from seven + -teen.

seventeenth

Origin

From seventeen + -th.

seventh

Old English

From Old English seofotha, from seven + -th.

seventy

Old English

From Old English hundseofontig, from seven + -ty.

sever

Latin

From Old French sevrer, from Latin separare ("to separate"); a doublet of "separate."

several

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin separalis, from Latin separ ("separate"). Not related to "seven" or "severe" despite the similar spelling.

severalize

Origin

From several + -ize.

severance

Origin

From sever + -ance.

severe

Latin

From Middle French, ultimately from Latin severus, "serious, strict, grave."

severely

Origin

From severe + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

severity

Latin

From Middle French severite, from Latin severitas, from severus, "severe."

Severus

Latin

From Latin severus, "stern, serious."

Sevilla

Spanish

From Spanish Sevilla, mainly via Cebuano and Tagalog. Doublet of Seville.

Seville

Spanish

From Spanish Sevilla (possibly through a Middle French form), from Arabic إِشْبِيلِيَة (ʔišbīliya), from Latin Hispalis, ultimately from Phoenician 𐤔𐤐𐤋𐤄 (šplh /⁠sefela⁠/, “plain, valley”). Compare Hebrew שפלה (shfela, “lowland”), Arabic سافل (safil, “lowly”). Doublet of Sevilla.

sew

Old English

From Old English siwian, "to sew, stitch, join together," from a Proto-Germanic root also giving us the word seam.

sewage

Origin

From sewer (the drainage system) plus the suffix -age.

sewer

Latin

From Anglo-Norman sewere, "water-course," ultimately from Latin ex- ("out of") plus aquaria ("of water").

sewing

Middle English

From Middle English sewinge, formed from sew plus -ing.

sex

Latin

From Old French sexe, from Latin sexus, ultimately from a root meaning "to cut, divide" — reflecting the idea of the species being divided into two categories.

sexable

Origin

From sex + -able.

sexagenarian

Origin

From Latin sexāgēnārius (“containing 60”) + -an (forming adjectives and representative nouns), either directly or via French sexagénaire, from Latin sexāgēnus (“60 each”) + -ārius (“-ary”), from sexāgintā (“six tens, 60”).

sexangular

Origin

From Late Latin sexangulāris, from sexangulus. By surface analysis, sex- + -angular. Piecewise doublet of hexangular.

sexism

Origin

Formed from sex plus the suffix -ism, modeled on words like racism.

sexist

Origin

From sex + -ist, formed after sexism.

sexless

Origin

From sex + -less, "without."

sextant

Latin

From Latin sextans 'a sixth part', because the instrument's graduated arc spans a sixth of a circle, that is sixty degrees.

sextate

Origin

Latin sextus (“sixth”) + English -ate; compare quintate, septimate, and decimate

sextet

Origin

From French sextette, from Italian sestetto.

sextillion

Origin

From Classical Latin sextus (“sixth”) + -illion; originally the sixth power of a million, 10³⁶. Compare slightly earlier quintillion, Middle French sixlion (1484) and French sextillion (1765). First attested in 1689 in John Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (see the quotation).

sexting

Origin

A blend of sex and texting.