English
sigh
Sigh comes from Middle English sighen ‘to sigh’, from sighte ‘sight’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *sīkan ‘to sigh, take a deep breath’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sīkan‘to sigh, take a deep breath’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sīcan‘to sigh’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sighte‘sight’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500sighen‘to sigh’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609sigh
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sīkan‘to sigh, take a deep breath’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sīcan‘to sigh’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sighte‘sight’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500sighen‘to sigh’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1608–1609sigh
Earliest quotation: c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Coriolanus: “Never man sighed truer breath.”
The story
From Middle English sighen (‘to sigh’), back-formation from sighte, past tense form of siken, from Old English sīcan, from Proto-West Germanic *sīkan, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- (‘to pour out’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- ‘to pour out’
sea, soul, sie, sicker, seel, sitch, 2 more
through Old English sīcan ‘to sigh’
Another origin of sigh
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seykʷ-‘to pour out’uncertain
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sīkan‘to sigh, take a deep breath’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sīcan‘to sigh’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sighte‘sight’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500sighen‘to sigh’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500sighe
- Englishtodaysigh
Today it means
verb To inhale a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expel it; to make a deep single audible respiration, especially as the result or involuntary expression of fatigue, exhaustion, grief, sorrow, frustration, or the like.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *sīkan / sigh