Etymograph

English

size

Size comes from Middle English syse ‘regulation’, from Old French cise, short for assise, from asseoir ‘to sit down’, from Latin assideō.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō‘to sit’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEassideō‘to sit by’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400asseoir‘to sit down’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400assise‘assize’
  6. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400cise
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500syse‘regulation, control, limit’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606size

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō‘to sit’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEassideō‘to sit by’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400asseoir‘to sit down’
  5. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400assise‘assize’
  6. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400cise
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500syse‘regulation, control, limit’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606size

Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “to scant my sizes”.

The story

Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid”, from Middle English syse, sise (‘regulation, control, limit’), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (‘assize’), from the verb asseoir (‘to sit down’), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (‘to, towards, at’) + sedeō (‘sit; settle down’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

set, sell, seat, method, chair, sitting, sit, settle, nest, possess, niche, saddle, exodus, nye, subsidy, beset, prasad, cathode, soot, setter, anode, chaise, sate, ersatz, salo, besiege, nidal, polyhedron, nias, 81 more

through Proto-Italic *sedēō

possession, obsession, assessor, presidente, 24 more

through Latin sedeō ‘sit’

president, session, resident, assess, siege, sedan, sediment, reside, residual, residue, sedentary, insidious, sedative, possessive, obsess, dissident, sedate, presidio, seance, séance, presidium, sessile, 27 more

through Latin assidēre

sewer, assiduous

Another origin of size

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500syse
  2. Englishtodaysize

From Middle English syse, of unclear origin; related to Old Italian sisa (‘a glue used by painters’), perhaps ultimately related to size / syse (‘amount’), or perhaps shortened from assisa, from assiso (‘to make to sit, to seat, to place’)uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Today it means

noun The dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / size

Shirt and support for this word