English
seize
Seize comes from Middle English seisen ‘to kidnap, abduct, or take captive’, from Early Medieval Latin sacīre ‘to lay claim to, appropriate’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sakjanąreconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*sakjan‘to sue, bring legal action’reconstructed
- Early Medieval Latinmodernsacīre‘to lay claim to, appropriate’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400seisir‘to take possession of’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500seisen‘to kidnap, abduct, or take captive’
- Englishearliest quotation 1830seize
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sakjanąreconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*sakjan‘to sue, bring legal action’reconstructed
- Early Medieval Latinmodernsacīre‘to lay claim to, appropriate’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400seisir‘to take possession of’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500seisen‘to kidnap, abduct, or take captive’
- Englishearliest quotation 1830seize
Earliest quotation: 1830, Robert Southey, Bunyan: “The text which had seized upon his heart with…”
The story
Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (‘to take possession of; invest (person, court)’), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (‘to lay claim to, appropriate’) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (‘to sue, bring legal action’), from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną, *sakōną (compare Old English sacian (‘to strive, brawl’)), from Proto-Germanic *sakaną (compare Old Saxon sakan (‘to accuse’), Old High German sahhan (‘to bicker, quarrel, rebuke’), Old English sacan (‘to quarrel, claim by law, accuse’).
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną
Today it means
verb To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *sakjaną / seize