Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 2. sē(i)- : səi- : sī-, sē- : sə-, and sei- : si- 'to sow, dispatch, disseminate, let fall'
Semantic Field(s): to Sow; Seed, to Strew, Spread Out
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Middle Breton: | hir | adj | long | W7 |
| menhir | n.masc | long stone | W7 | |
| Welsh: | had | n | seed | LRC |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | sǣd | n.neut | seed, fruit, sowing | RPN |
| sāwan | vb.str | to sow | ASD/RPN | |
| sīd | adj | wide, long, ample, extensive | ASD | |
| sīde | n.fem | side, flank | ASD | |
| sīþ | adv | late, afterwards | ASD | |
| siððan, syððan | adv | since, afterwards | ASD | |
| siððon, seoððan | adv | since, afterwards | ASD | |
| Middle English: | besyde, bisyde, beside, biside | adv/prep | beside | MEV |
| season | n | season | W7 | |
| seed | n | seed | W7 | |
| seminary | n | seminary | W7 | |
| sesoun | n | season | W7 | |
| sesounen | vb | to season | W7 | |
| side | n | side | W7 | |
| sins | adv | since | W7 | |
| sithen(s) | adv | since | W7 | |
| sowen | vb | to sow | W7 | |
| English: | beside | adv/prep | hard by, at the side (of) | MEV |
| colza | n | cole (herbaceous plant, esp. rape) | AHD/W7 | |
| disseminate | vb | to spread about (like sowing seed) | AHD/W7 | |
| inseminate | vb.trans | to sow | AHD/W7 | |
| menhir | n | single upright rude monolith | AHD/W7 | |
| season | n | natural/suitable time/occasion | AHD/W7 | |
| season | vb | to improve taste by adding salt/condiment | AHD/W7 | |
| seed | n | grain, ripened ovule of plant | AHD/W7 | |
| seme | adj | sown, dotted, re: ornamental pattern of objects/figures | AHD/W7 | |
| semen | n | viscid whitish fluid of male reproductive tract | AHD/W7 | |
| seminary | n | environment in/from which something originates/propagates | AHD/W7 | |
| serotinous | adj | late in flowering/developing | AHD/W7 | |
| side | n | left/right part of trunk of body | AHD/W7 | |
| silent | adj | making no utterance | AHD/W7 | |
| since | adv | from definite past time til now | AHD/W7 | |
| sith(ence) | adv.arch | since | AHD/W7 | |
| soiree | n | evening party/reception | AHD/W7 | |
| sow | vb | to plant/scatter seed for growth | AHD/W7 | |
| syne | adv | ago, since then | AHD/W7 | |
| British English: | side | n | pretentiousness, swaggering/arrogant manner | AHD/W7 |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | sēa | vb | to sow | ASD |
| sēd | n | seed | RPN | |
| sīde | n | side, flank | ASD | |
| Middle Dutch: | coolsaet | n | cabbage seed | W7 |
| saet | n | seed | W7 | |
| Dutch: | koolzaad | n | cabbage seed | W7 |
| sedert | conj | since | TLL | |
| sinds | prep | since | TLL | |
| zaaien | vb | to sow | LRC | |
| Old Saxon: | sād | n | seed | RPN |
| sāian | vb | to sow | RPN | |
| sāmo | n | seed | RPN | |
| sīda | n | side, flank | ASD | |
| sīð | adv | late | ASD | |
| Old High German: | sāen, sājan | vb | to sow | ASD/RPN |
| sāmo | n | seed | RPN | |
| sāt | n | seed, crop | ASD | |
| sāwen | vb | to sow | RPN | |
| sīd | adv | since | W7 | |
| sīta | n | side | W7 | |
| German: | Saat | n.fem | seed, crop | LRC |
| säen | vb | to sow | LRC | |
| Same | n.masc | seed | LRC | |
| seit | adv/prep | since | ASD | |
| seitdem | conj | since | TLL | |
| Seite | n.fem | side | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | síð | adv | late | LRC |
| sīðan | adv | afterwards, since then | W7 | |
| Old Icelandic: | sá | vb | to sow, throw, scatter | RPN |
| sáð | n | seed, corn, crop | RPN | |
| sæði | n | seed; [pl.] crops | RPN | |
| Icelandic: | sá(ði) | vb | to sow | ASD |
| sið | adv | late | ASD | |
| sīða | n | side, flank | ASD | |
| Danish: | sā | vb | to sow | LRC |
| siden | prep/conj | since | TLL | |
| Swedish: | sedan | prep/conj | since | TLL |
| så | vb | to sow | RPN | |
| sådd | n | seed | RPN | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | ana-silan | vb.wk | to cease, subside, grow calm | GED/W7 |
| manasēþs | n.str.fem | mankind, the world | LRC | |
| saian | vb.str.VII | to sow | LRC | |
| seithu | adv | late | ASD | |
| -sēþs | n.sfx | -seed, -kind | RPN | |
| þanaseiþs | adv | still, further | LRC | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | disseminatus | vb.ptc | scattered around | W7 |
| dissemino, dissemināre | vb | to scatter around | W7 | |
| inseminatus | vb.ptc | sown into | W7 | |
| insemino, inseminare | vb | to sow into | W7 | |
| pōnō, ponere, posuī, positum | vb | to place, situate | LRC | |
| prōpōnō, proponere, proposuī, propositum | vb | to point out, set forth | LRC | |
| satio, satiōnis | n.fem | (act of) sowing, planting | W7 | |
| sēmen, sēminis | n.neut | seed, semen; race | RPN | |
| sēmentis | n | sowing, planting | RPN | |
| seminarium | n.neut | seminary | W7 | |
| sēminō, sēmināre | vb | to sow, produce, bring forth | W7 | |
| serō, serere, sēvi, satum | vb | to sow, plant | RPN | |
| sero | adv | late | LRC | |
| serotinus | adj | serotinous, coming late | W7 | |
| serus | adj | late | W7 | |
| silens, silentis | adj/vb.ptc | quiet, silent | W7 | |
| sileo, silēre | vb | to be silent | W7 | |
| sinō, sinere, sīvī | vb | to allow, permit | LRC | |
| New Latin: | sēmen | n.neut | seed, semen | W7 |
| Portuguese: | semear | vb | to sow | TLL |
| Spanish: | sembrar | vb | to sow | TLL |
| Old French: | assaisoner | vb | to ripen, season | W7 |
| saison | n.fem | season | W7 | |
| Middle French: | assaisoner | vb | to ripen, season | W7 |
| semé | adj | seme | W7 | |
| semer | vb | to sow | W7 | |
| soir | n.masc | evening | W7 | |
| soirée | n.fem | evening | W7 | |
| French: | colza | n.masc | colza | W7 |
| menhir | n.masc | menhir | W7 | |
| semer | vb | to sow | TLL | |
| soirée | n.fem | evening party/period | W7 | |
| Italian: | seminare | vb | to sow | TLL |
| Baltic | ||||
| Old Prussian: | semen | n | seed, semen | LRC |
| Lithuanian: | sė́ju, sė́ti | vb | to sow | RPN |
| sėkla | n.fem | seed, semen | LRC | |
| sėlena | n | seed husk | RPN | |
| sėmen(y)s | n | flax seed | RPN | |
| síela | n.fem | soul | LRC | |
| síena | n.fem | wall | LRC | |
| skaitýti, skaĩto, skaĩtė | vb | to read | LRC | |
| skaitýtojas | n.masc | reader | LRC | |
| Slavic | ||||
| Polish: | siać | vb | to sow | RPN |
| Old Church Slavonic: | sěmę | n | seed, semen | RPN |
| sějǫ, sěti | vb | to sow | RPN | |
| Russian: | semja | n | seed, semen | LRC |
| Anatolian | ||||
| Hittite: | iš-h̯u-u-wa-a-i | vb.3.sg | to sow, shed, scatter | RPN |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | śra | n | seed-plow | LRC |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | = | 3rd person |
| VII | = | class 7 |
| adj | = | adjective |
| adv | = | adverb(ial) |
| arch | = | archaic |
| conj | = | conjunction |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prep | = | preposition |
| ptc | = | participle |
| sfx | = | suffix |
| sg | = | singular (number) |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| trans | = | transitive |
| vb | = | verb |
| wk | = | weak (inflection) |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| GED | = | Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| MEV | = | J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |