Etymograph

English

sele

Sele comes from Middle English sel ‘fortune, bliss’, from Old English sǣl ‘time, occasion, an opportune time,…’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sēliz ‘happy, fortunate’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sēliz1‘happy, fortunate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sālī1‘happy, fortunate’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sǣl1‘time, occasion, an opportune time, opportunity, happiness, prosperity, good times’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sel1‘fortune, bliss’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1862sele1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sele
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1862, George Borrow, Read Central: “I found my friend honest Pritchard smoking his morning…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sēlizWiktionary, English sele‘happy, fortunate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sālīWiktionary, English sele‘happy, fortunate’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sǣlWiktionary, English sele‘time, occasion, an opportune time, opportunity, happiness, prosperity, good times’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500selWiktionary, English sele‘fortune, bliss’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1862seleWiktionary, English sele. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1862, George Borrow, Read Central: “I found my friend honest Pritchard smoking his morning…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *sēliz ‘happy, fortunate’

silly, 2 more

through Old English sǣl ‘time, occasion, an opportune time,…’

sale

through Middle English sel ‘fortune, bliss’

seal, seel, 1 more

Today it means

noun Happiness, fortune.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sele”. 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-Germanic *sēliz / sele

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