An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Seihe

by Friedrich Kluge

Seihe, t., ‘straining, strainer, colander,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sîhe, OHG. sîha, f. Allied to seihen, ‘to strain, filter,’ from MidHG. sîhen, OHG. sîhan, ‘to strain, filter, trickle’; comp. Du. zijgen, ‘to filter through, decay, faint,’ AS. seón (from *sîhan), ‘to strain,’ and the equiv. OIc. sía. Identical with these are MidHG. sîgen, OHG. and AS. sîgan, ‘to fall down, trickle.’ Teut. root sī̆h, sī̆hw (with grammatical change sī̆g, sī̆w), from pre-Teut. sī̆q, ‘to trickle down’; comp. OSlov. sĭcati, ‘to make water,’ Sans. sic, ‘to pour out’ (Gr. ἰκμάς, ‘moisture’?), An equiv. Teut. root is also indicated by ModHG. seichen, sinken, and sickern.