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)

Nearby etymon:    previous   |   next


  • Linguistics Research Center

    University of Texas at Austin
    PCL 5.556
    Mailcode S5490
    Austin, Texas 78712
    512-471-4566

  • For comments and inquiries, or to report issues, please contact the Web Master at UTLRC@utexas.edu