Etymograph

English

sad

Sad comes from Old English sæd ‘sated, weary’, from Proto-Germanic *sadaz ‘sated’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- ‘to satiate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂-1‘to satiate, satisfy’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂-tó-s1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sadaz1‘full, sated’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sad1‘sated, full’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sæd1‘satisfied, sated, weary’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sad1‘sated’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1509sad1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sad
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1509, Sebastian Brant, The Ship of Fools: “Therfore it nedeth that better prouysion. Were founde for…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂-Wiktionary, English sad‘to satiate, satisfy’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sh₂-tó-sWiktionary, English sadreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sadazWiktionary, English sad‘full, sated’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sadWiktionary, English sad‘sated, full’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sædWiktionary, English sad‘satisfied, sated, weary’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sadWiktionary, English sad‘sated’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1509sadWiktionary, English sad. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1509, Sebastian Brant, The Ship of Fools: “Therfore it nedeth that better prouysion. Were founde for…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with sad, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- ‘to satiate, satisfy’

  • insane ← īnsānus ← sānus ← *sānos ← *seh₂-no-
  • secular ← seculer ← seculer ← saeculāris ← saeculum
  • sane ← sānus ← *sānos ← *seh₂-no-
  • sanity ← sanite ← sanité ← sānitās ← sānus
  • saturation ← saturatio ← saturō ← satur
  • sanitary ← sanitaire ← sanitas ← sānus ← *sānos
  • insatiable ← insaciable ← insaciable ← insatiabilis ← satiābilis
  • hadron ← ἁδρός
  • saturate ← saturat(e) ← saturātus ← saturō ← satur
  • satiety ← satieté ← satietas ← satis ← *séh₂tis
  • satiate ← satiātus ← satiō ← satis ← *séh₂tis

through Proto-Germanic *sadaz ‘sated, satisfied’

  • sade ← saden ← sadian ← *sadōn

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Today it means

adj Feeling sorrow; sorrowful, mournful.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sad”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- / sad