English
sea
Sea comes from Old English sǣ, from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz, of uncertain origin (perhaps from *sīhwaną ‘to filter’).
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seykʷ-‘to filter’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sīhwaną‘to percolate, filter’uncertain
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*saiwiz‘sea, lake’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*saiwi‘body of water’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sǣ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500see‘sea’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602sea
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seykʷ-‘to filter’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sīhwaną‘to percolate, filter’uncertain
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*saiwiz‘sea, lake’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*saiwi‘body of water’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sǣ
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500see‘sea’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602sea
Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet: “To be, or not to be, that is the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- ‘to filter’
sigh, sie, sicker, sitch, sike, seel, 2 more
through Proto-Germanic *saiwiz ‘body of water: lake, sea, ocean’
Today it means
noun A large body of salt water.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.