Etymograph

English

sediment

Sediment comes from Latin sedimentum ‘a settling, sinking down, subsidence’, from sedeō ‘to sit’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēō1‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō1‘to sit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedimentum2‘a settling, sinking down, subsidence’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sédiment2
  7. Englishtodaysediment2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin sedimentum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English sediment

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, Latin sedimentum‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sedéh₁yetiWiktionary, Latin sedimentumreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sedēōWiktionary, Latin sedimentum‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeōWiktionary, Latin sedimentum‘to sit’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedimentumWiktionary, English sediment‘a settling, sinking down, subsidence’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600sédimentWiktionary, English sediment
  7. EnglishtodaysedimentWiktionary, English sediment

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’

set, sit, sitting, sell, chair, method, seat, settle, nest, niche, possess, saddle, exodus, subsidy, nye, prasad, cathode, soot, beset, anode, setter, sate, chaise, besiege, ersatz, salo, nidal, nias, polyhedron, 80 more

through Proto-Italic *sedēō ‘to sit, to be sitting, to be seated’

possession, obsession, assessor, presidente, assize, 23 more

through Latin sedeō ‘to sit’

president, size, session, resident, siege, assess, reside, residue, residual, sedan, insidious, possessive, obsess, sedative, dissident, sedentary, presidio, sedate, sessile, presidium, seance, 27 more

Today it means

noun A collection of small particles, particularly dirt, that precipitates from a river or other body of water.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sediment”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin sedimentum. 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 *sed- / sediment

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