Etymograph

English

seech

Seech comes from Old English sēċan ‘to look for, seek’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-1‘track down, seek out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōkijaną1‘to seek, look for’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sōkijan1‘to seek, look for’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēċan2‘to look for, seek’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sēchen2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1879seech2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English secan
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English seech
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1879, Edwin Waugh, The chimney corner: “"I have spokken for misel',—an' for thee too. To…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-Wiktionary, Old English secan‘track down, seek out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōkijanąWiktionary, Old English secan‘to seek, look for’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sōkijanWiktionary, Old English secan‘to seek, look for’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēċanWiktionary, English seech‘to look for, seek’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sēchenWiktionary, English seech
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1879seechWiktionary, English seech. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1879, Edwin Waugh, The chimney corner: “"I have spokken for misel',—an' for thee too. To…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- ‘track down, seek out’

sake, sucker, hegemony, saya, sagittal, presage, hegemon, sagacity, 19 more

through Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną ‘to seek, look for’

soc, 3 more

through Old English sēċan ‘to look for, seek’

seek, 2 more

Today it means

verb Lancashire, West Country, and possibly other dialects' form of seek.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “seech”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English secan. 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 *seh₂g- / seech

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