Etymograph

English

seek

Seek comes from Middle English seke, from Old English sēċan ‘to seek’, from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną ‘to seek’, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂gyeti ‘to seek out’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-1‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₂gyeti1‘to seek out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōkijaną1‘to seek’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sōkijan1‘to seek’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēċan1‘to look for’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500seke1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485seek1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English seek
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1470–1485, (please specify the chapter): “Ryght so he sought[…]towarde Sandewyche where he founde before…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seh₂g-Wiktionary, English seek‘to follow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*séh₂gyetiWiktionary, English seek‘to seek out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōkijanąWiktionary, English seek‘to seek’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sōkijanWiktionary, English seek‘to seek’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sēċanWiktionary, English seek‘to look for’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sekeWiktionary, English seek
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1470–1485seekWiktionary, English seek. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1470–1485, (please specify the chapter): “Ryght so he sought[…]towarde Sandewyche where he founde before…”

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- ‘to follow, trace’

  • sake ← sacu ← *saku ← *sakō
  • sucker ← Sache ← sache ← sahha ← *saku
  • hegemony ← ἡγεμονία ← ἡγεμών ← ἡγέομαι
  • saya ← *sagia ← sagum ← sagus ← *séh₂gos
  • hegemon ← ἡγεμών ← ἡγέομαι

through Proto-Indo-European *séh₂gyeti ‘to seek out’

  • sagittal ← sagittālis ← sagitta ← sāgiō ← *sāgiō
  • presage ← praesāgium ← praesāgio ← sāgiō ← *sāgiō
  • sagacity ← sagacité ← sagācitās ← sagāx ← sāgiō

through Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną ‘to seek’

  • soc ← soke ← sōcn ← *sōkni ← *sōkniz

through Old English sēċan ‘to look for, seek’

29 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To try to find; to look for; to search for.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “seek”. 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- / seek