"S" Word Origins

suer

Origin

From sue + -er.

suet

Origin

From Middle English suet, sewet, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suet, siuet, from Old French seu, from Latin sebum.

suey

Origin

A shortened, informal form of "suicide," with the playful -ey ending tacked on the same way "telly" comes from "television."

suffer

Latin

From Anglo-Norman suffrir, from Latin sufferre, "to bear, endure," from sub- ("under") plus ferre ("to carry").

sufferable

Origin

PIE word *upó From Middle English sufferable, souffrable (“bearable, endurable, tolerable; allowable, permissible; able to or willing to bear hardship; forbearing, long-suffering; calm, self-restrained, slow to anger; capable of suffering”), from Anglo-Norman sufferable, souffrable, and Old French souffrable, suffrable (“sufferable, tolerable”)), from Medieval Latin sufferābilis, from Latin sufferre + -ābilis (suffix meaning ‘able or worthy to be’). Sufferre is the present active infinitive of sufferō, subferō (“to bear or carry under; to bear, endure, suffer, undergo”), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘below, under’) + ferō (“to bear, carry; to endure, suffer, tolerate”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”)). The English word is analysable as suffer + -able.

sufferance

Origin

From Middle English sufferaunce, from Anglo-Norman suffraunce, from Late Latin sufferentia. By surface analysis, suffer + -ance.

sufferer

Origin

Formed from suffer plus the agent suffix -er.

suffering

Origin

Formed from suffer plus -ing.

suffice

Latin

From Middle French souffire, from Latin sufficere, "to supply, be adequate," from sub- ("under") plus facere ("to make, do").

sufficient

Latin

From Old French sufisant, from Latin sufficiens, the present participle of sufficere ("to suffice").

sufficiently

Origin

Formed from sufficient plus -ly.

suffix

Latin

From Latin suffixus "fastened underneath or after", the past participle of suffigere, from sub- "under, after" and figere "to fasten".

suffocate

Latin · 1500

From Latin suffocare, from sub- ("under, up to") plus fauces ("throat"). First recorded in English in the 1500s.

suffocation

Latin

From Middle French suffocation, from Latin suffocatio.

Suffolk

Old English

From Old English Suthfolc, meaning "south folk" — the southern people of the East Anglian kingdom.

suffrage

Latin

From Latin suffragium, meaning "vote" or "support," ultimately from a root referring to breaking or casting (as with a voting shard).

suffragette

Origin · 1906

Formed from suffrage plus -ette. Coined mockingly by the Daily Mail in 1906, but later embraced proudly by the Women's Social and Political Union.

suffuse

Origin

From Latin suffundō.

Sufi

Arabic

From Arabic sufiyy, literally "man of wool," referring to the coarse woolen garments early mystics wore.

sug

Origin

From the initial letters of selling under the guise of research, especially in the market industry.

Suga

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 菅 (Suga) or すが (Suga).

sugar

Old French

Traced back through Old French çucre and Old Italian zucchero to Arabic sukkar, itself borrowed from Persian and ultimately Sanskrit sharkara. The same root gives us the word "jaggery."

sugarcoat

Origin

From sugar plus coat, based on the old practice of coating bitter medicine tablets in sugar to hide the taste.

sugarpie

Origin

From sugar + pie.

sugary

Origin

Formed from sugar plus -y.

sugescent

Origin

Latin sugere (“to suck”).

suggest

Latin

From Latin suggerere, "to bring up from below, supply, advise," from sub- ("from below") plus gerere ("to carry").

suggestable

Origin

From suggest + -able.

suggesting

Latin

The -ing form of "suggest," from Latin suggerere, "to bring up from underneath" — the same root idea as quietly bringing an idea to the surface.

suggestion

Latin

From Anglo-Norman suggestioun, from Latin suggestio, from suggerere ("to suggest").

suggestive

Origin

Formed from suggest plus -ive.

sugi

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese sugi, the name for the Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica).

Sugiyama

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 杉山 (Sugiyama).

Suh

Origin

From Korean 서(徐) (Seo). Cognate with English Xu (from Mandarin).

Sui

Chinese · 581

From Mandarin 隋 (Suí), also the name of a short-lived Chinese dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618 CE.

suicidal

Origin

Formed in English from suicide plus the adjective ending -al.

suicide

Latin · 1600

First recorded in English in the 1600s, built from Latin sui ("of oneself") plus -cide ("killing"), on the model of words like homicide.

suing

Old French

From Old French suir/sivre, "to follow, pursue," the same root that gives us "pursue" and "ensue" — originally just meant chasing after someone, legally or otherwise.

suit

Old French

From Old French sieute/suite, meaning things that "follow" together as a set — the same root that gave English suite, since the pieces of a suit of clothes are worn following one another.

suitable

Origin

From suit plus the adjective ending -able, literally "able to be suited (to something)."

suitcase

Origin

A straightforward compound of suit and case, since suitcases were originally made to carry a suit of clothes.

suite

Middle French

Borrowed from Middle French suite, "that which follows" — a doublet of suit, which took the English spelling while suite kept the French one.

suitor

Late Latin

From Anglo-Norman suytour, ultimately from Late Latin secutor, "follower, pursuer" — related to suit and pursue.

sukey

Origin

A spelling variant of Suky.

suki

Tagalog

Borrowed from Tagalog suki, itself from a Hokkien term literally meaning "principal guest," referring to a valued regular customer.

sukiyaki

Japanese · 1907

From Japanese sukiyaki, first recorded in English in 1907.

sulaiman

Origin

Borrowed from Arabic سُلَيْمَان (sulaymān).

Suleiman

Arabic

From Arabic sulaymān, a doublet of the name Solomon.