Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/356

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

Seu

( 334 )

Sie

MidHG. siuche, OHG. siuhhî, f., ‘disease’; abstract of siech.

seufzen, vb., ‘to sigh, lament,’ from the equiv. MidHG. siufzen, siuften; the z of the MidHG. form is due to the influence of the intensives in -zen; in OHG. sûftôn, sûfteôn, ‘to sigh,’ allied to MidHG. sûft, ‘sigh.’ The latter is an abstract from OHG. sûfan, ‘to drink’; hence seufzen, lit. ‘drawing in the breath’; it is related to saufen, as schluchzen is to schlucken. Note, however, E. to sob, MidE. sobbin, AS. *sobbian, ‘to sob, sigh,’ which may be allied to OHG. sûfteôn.

sich, pron., ‘himself, herself,’ &c., from the equiv. MidHG. sich, acc. and dat., OHG. sih, acc.; corresponding to the equiv. OLG. and Goth. sik, acc. Comp. Lat. se, Gr. ἐ, OSlov. sę, acc., ‘himself,’ &c. (sebě, dat., like Lat. sibi); Sans. sva, ‘own,’ Lat. suus, Gr. ἑός, ὅς. Hence even in Aryan there existed a reflex. pron. sve-, se-. Further details belong to grammar.

Sichel, f., ‘sickle,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sichel, OHG. sihhila, f.; corresponding to Du. zikkel, AS. sicol, E. sickle. It is perhaps borrowed from Lat. secula (Ital. segolo, ‘bill, hedging bill’). On account of the agreement of the E. with the G. term, it must have been introduced in the 5th cent., which date also explains the permutation of Lat. k to HG. ch. On the other hand, Sichel and its cognates may be regarded as genuine Teut. words (Teut. sikilô-); the G. word looks like a diminutive of ModHG. Sech, which points to Teut. sëko-, and more remotely to the Aryan root seg, sok (see Sense).

sicher, adj., ‘sure, certain, trusty,’ from MidHG. sicher, OHG. sihhū̆r, ‘careless, unconcerned; sure, protected, confident’; to these are allied OSax. and AS. sicor, ‘free from guilt and punishment,’ MidE. sîker, Du. zeker (OHG. sihhorô(illegible text), ‘to justify, protect, promise, vow,’ OSax. sicorôn, ‘to set free’). It is based on the common West Teut. loan-word Lat. sêcûrus (phonetic intermediate form sĕcûrus, the accent of which was Germanised when the word was borrowed); comp. Ital. sicuro, Fr. sûr. The term was naturalised in G. before the 7th cent., as is shown by the permutation of k to ch. Was it first introduced through the medium of legal phraseology? Comp. OHG. sihhorôn, ‘to justify, purgare.’

Sicht, s., ‘sight,’ from MidHG. siht,

f., ‘appearance, view’; verbal abstract from sehen; comp. E. sight, from to see.

sichten, vb., ‘to sift, winnow,’ ModHG. only, formed from LG. sichten, earlier Du. zichten, ‘to sift’; these are derived from an older siften, with a LG. change of ft to ht; ModDu. ziften, with an abnormal ft (for gt), is based on zeef, ‘sieve.’ Comp. AS. siftan, E. to sift. A derivative of the root sib, ‘to sift’; see Sieb.

sickern, vb., ‘to trickle, drop,’ ModHG. only, from LG.?. Comp. AS. sicerian, ‘to trickle, ooze’; allied to seichen and sinken (Teut. root sī̆k, sī̆h, from Aryan sig, sik).

sie, pron., ‘she, her, it, they, them’; from MidHG. sie, si (sî), nom. and acc. sing. f., nom. and acc. plur., m., f., and n., OHG. siu, sī̆, nom. sing. f., sié, nom. and acc. plur. For further details see grammars.

Sieb, n., ‘sieve,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sip (b), OHG. sib, n.; comp. the equiv. Du. zeef (and zift); AS. sife, n., E. sieve; derived, like siftan, ‘to sift’ (see sichten), from a root sib (seb), which is not found elsewhere.

sieben, num. ‘seven,’ from the equiv. MidHG. siben, OHG. sibun; corresponding to Goth. sibun, AS. seofon, E. seven, Du. zeven, OSax. siƀun, ‘seven’; orig. septn. Like all units, a common Aryan word; comp. Sans. saptan, Gr. ἑπτά, Lat. septem, OSlov. sedmĭ, OIr. secht, ‘seven.’ The t of the Aryan prim. form septn- disappears in primit. Teut. between p and n.

siech, adj., ‘sickly, infirm,’ from MidHG. siech, OHG. sioh (hh), adj., ‘sick’; corresponding to OSax. siok, Du. ziek, AS. seóc, E. sick, OIc. sjúkr, Goth. siuks, ‘sick.’ The OTeut. term for ‘sick, ill,’ compared with the ModG. word krank; comp. the difference in meaning between ModHG. siech and Seuche. To this Sucht is allied (and schwach?), as well as Goth. siukan, str. vb., ‘to be weak.’ A pre-Teut. root sug is wanting.

siedeln, vb., ‘to settle, establish,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sidelen; allied to MidHG. sëdel, OHG. sëdal, m. and n., ‘seat, settle, residence,’ a variant of Sessel, Goth. sitls (*siþls). There are several examples of the change of tl to þl (parallel to that of tn to þn in Boden). Comp. also Einsiedel.

sieden, vb., ‘to seethe, boil, stew,’ from MidHG. sieden, OHG. siodan, ‘to seethe, cook’; comp. Du. zieden, AS. seóðan, E. to seethe, OIc. sjóða, ‘to seethe, cook.’ In