An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/sehr

by Friedrich Kluge

sehr, adverb, ‘very greatly, very much’ (unknown to Suabian and Bavarian, arg, recht, gar being used), from Middle High German sêre, sêr, adverb, ‘with pain, painfully, powerfully, very’; Old High German and Old Saxon sêro, ‘painfully, with difficulty, violently’; adverb form of Old High German and Old Saxon ser, ‘painfully,’ Anglo-Saxon sâr, adjective, ‘painful, wounding.’ Allied to the substantives Gothic sair, Anglo-Saxon sâr, ‘pain’ (English sore), Old Saxon sêr, Old High German and Middle High German sêr, neuter, ‘pain’; from the Old Teutonic adjective is derived Finnish sairas, ‘sick.’ The common Teutonic saira- seems, like Old Irish sáeth, sóeth, ‘hurt, disease,’ to point to a root sai, ‘to pain.’ The earlier meaning is preserved by Suabian and Bavarian sêr, ‘wounded, painful,’ and versehren, ‘to wound’; compare Dutch zeer, ‘injured, injury, sickness, scab.’