Etymograph

English

seethe

Seethe comes from Middle English sethen ‘to boil, seethe’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂sewt-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂sewt-‘to seethe, boil’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*seuþaną‘to boil, seethe’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*seuþan‘to seethe, to boil’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēoþan‘to boil, seethe’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sethen‘to boil, seethe’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1530seethe

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂sewt-‘to seethe, boil’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*seuþaną‘to boil, seethe’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*seuþan‘to seethe, to boil’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēoþan‘to boil, seethe’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sethen‘to boil, seethe’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1530seethe

Earliest quotation: 1530, W[illiam] T[yndale]: “Iacob ſod potage ⁊ Eſau came from the feld…”

The story

The verb is derived from Middle English sethen, seeth (‘to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.’) [and other forms], from Old English sēoþan (‘to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.’), from Proto-West Germanic *seuþan, from Proto-Germanic *seuþaną (‘to boil, seethe’), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂sewt-, *h₂sew-, *h₂sut- (‘to move about, roil, seethe’).

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *seuþaną ‘to boil, seethe’

sodden, 1 more

Today it means

verb Of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂sewt- / seethe

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