Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/352

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sechs, num., ‘six,’ from MidHG. and OHG. sëhs; a common Teut. and primit. Aryan num.; comp. OSax. sehs, Du. zes, AS. and E. six, OIc. sehs, Goth. saíhs; primit. Aryan seks (and sweks). Comp. Sans. šaš, Zend χšvaš, Gr. ἕξ, Lat. sex, W. chwech, OSlov. šestĭ.

Sechter, m., ‘two pecks,’ from MidHG. sëhter, sëster, sëhster, m., ‘a dry measure,’ OHG. sëhtâri, sëhstâri, ‘two pecks (about)'; derived, like OSax. sëster, from Lat. sextarius, whence also AS. sëster, Ital. sestiere, Fr. setier.

Seckel, m., ‘purse, bag, pocket,’ from MidHG. sęckel, OHG. sęcchil, m., ‘purse’; dimin. of Sack, Lat. sacellum; comp. OFr. sachel, E. satchel.

See, m. and f., ‘lake, sea,’ from MidHG. sê, m. and f., ‘sea, lake, ocean’ (the masc. predominates, and is used without distinction in all the senses); OHG. sêo, m., ‘sea, ocean,’ and in these significations occur OSax. sêo, Du. see, f., AS. sœ̂, m. and f., E. sea; OIc. sœ́r, m., ‘ocean’; Goth. saiws, m., ‘lake, marsh.’ The common Teut. *saiwi-, ‘ocean, lake,’ does not belong to any Teut. verbal stem; Lat. saevus, ‘savage’ (Gr. ἀιόλος, ‘mobile’), seems to be allied (See, lit. ‘the savage element’). While See is peculiar to Teut., Meer is common to some of the West Aryan languages.

Seele, f., ‘soul,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sêle, OHG. sêla (sē̆ula), f.; a word peculiar to Teut. Comp. Goth. saiwala, f., OIc. sala, f., AS. sâwl, sâwul, f., E. soul, Du. ziel, OSax. sē̆ola, f. The origin of the primit. Teut. saiwolô, f., ‘soul,’ is obscure; it may be allied to See (Seele, lit. ‘that which moves’): comp. Gr. αἰόλος. Its connection with Lat. saeculum, ‘age, generation’ (lit. ‘vital power’?), is equally possible; comp. Sans. âyu, ‘vital power,’ similar to Lat. aevum, ‘age, time.’

Segel, n., ‘sail,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sëgel, OHG. sëgal, m.; comp. OSax. sëgel, n., Du. zeil, n., AS. sëgel, m. and n., E. sail, OIc. segl, n., ‘sail’ (Goth. *sigla- is not recorded). The word cannot have been borrowed from Lat. sagulum, ‘military cloak,’ on account of the sounds, and because no other OTeut. nautical expressions have been derived from Lat.; besides, sagulum is not a naut. term. Segel (Teut. *segla-) looks very much like a Teut. term (comp. Mast), yet the root cannot be ascertained. From the Teut. cognates Fr. cingler and Span. singlar, ‘to sail,’ are derived.

Segen, m., ‘blessing, bliss’, enchantment,’ from MidHG. sëgen, OHG. sëgan, n., ‘sign of the cross, blessing resulting from it, magic spell’; borrowed on the introduction of Christianity (see Kreuz, Altar, and Priester) from Lat. sîgnum; so too OHG. sëganôn, ‘to bless,’ OSax. sëgnôn, ‘to bless,’ lit. ‘to make the sign of the cross,’ from Lat. sîgnâre. AS. sëgen, ‘banner, military emblem,’ must have been borrowed at an earlier period from Lat. sîgnum; with the ë of the Teut. words comp. the OIr. loan-word sén, as well as Ital. segno (Fr. enseigne).

sehen, vb., ‘to see, look,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sëhen, OHG. sëhan; a common Teut. vb., and in this sense peculiar to this group. Comp. Goth. saihwan, OIc. sjá, AS. seón (from *seohan), E. to see, Du. zien, OSlov. sëhan, ‘to see.’ The common Teut. root sehw (with grammatical change segw, sew), from the pre-Teut. seq, closely agrees in sound with the Aryan root seq, ‘to follow, purse, accompany’; comp. Sans. sac, ‘to escort, promote,’ Gr. ἕπεσθαι, ‘to follow,’ Lat. sequi, Lith. sekti, ‘to follow’; the assumption that these words are primitively allied presents no difficulty (hence sehen is perhaps lit. ‘to follow with the eyes’). The supposition that the term is connected with Lat. secare, ‘to cut’ (Aryan root sek, ‘to penetrate’?), is untenable.

Sehne, f., ‘sinew, tendon, nerve, string (of a bow),’ from MidHG. sëne, sënewe, f., ‘sinew, string (of a bow), nerve,’ OHG. sënawa, f., ‘sinew’; comp. Du. zenuw, AS. sinu, f., and the equiv. E. sinew, OIc. sin, f.; Goth. *sinawa, f., is wanting. The word is usually connected with Sans. snâva-s, m., ‘sinew’ (the Teut. words would also imply a Sans. *sanâva-); its kinship with Gr. ἶν-ες, ‘sinew,’ is improbable.

sehnen, vb., ‘to long, yearn,’ from MidHG. senen, ‘to long, inspire with longing’; allied to MidHG. sene, f., ‘yearning, longing.’ Unrecorded in OHG. and the other OTeut. dials. perhaps only by chance; of obscure origin, but probably genuine Teut.

sehr, adv., ‘very greatly, very much’ (unknown to Suab. and Bav., arg, recht, gar being used), from MidHG. sêre, sêr, adv., ‘with pain, painfully, powerfully, very’; OHG. and OSax. sêro, ‘painfully, with difficulty, violently’; adv. form of OHG. and OSax. ser, ‘painfully,’ AS. sâr, adj., ‘painful, wounding.’ Allied to the substs. Goth. sair, AS. sâr, ‘pain’ (E. sore), OSax. sêr,