Etymograph

English

set

Set comes from Middle English setten ‘to seat, cause to sit’, from Old English settan ‘to set, establish, place, make’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sodéyeti1‘to set’reconstructedcausative of *sed-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*satjaną1‘to set’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sattjan1‘to set’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150settan1‘to set’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500setten1‘to seat’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591set1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English set
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “That I might sing it (Madam) to a tune:…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, English set‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sodéyetiWiktionary, English set‘to set’reconstructedcausative of *sed-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*satjanąWiktionary, English set‘to set’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sattjanWiktionary, English set‘to set’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150settanWiktionary, English set‘to set’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500settenWiktionary, English set‘to seat’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591setWiktionary, English set. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “That I might sing it (Madam) to a tune:…”

Linked words

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

president, size, sit, sitting, chair, sell, method, session, resident, seat, nest, siege, niche, saddle, exodus, possess, assess, reside, subsidy, residue, residual, nye, insidious, sediment, sedan, 108 more

through Proto-West Germanic *sattjan ‘to set, place’

5 more

through Middle English setten ‘to put, lay, set, place’

2 more

Another origin of set

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*setą‘seat’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*set‘seat’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150set‘seat, place of residence, camp, settlement, entrenchment, stable, pen’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500set
  6. Englishtodayset

Another origin of set

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sodéyeti‘to set, to seat, to cause to sit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*satjaną‘to set, to place down’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sattjan‘to set, place’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150settanas ġesett‘to set, establish, place, make’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sett
  7. Englishtodayset

Another origin of set

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150set‘setting, seat, a place where people remain, habitation, camp, entrenchment’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500set
  3. Englishtodayset

According to Skeat, in senses denoting a group of things or persons, representing an alteration of sept, from Old French sette (‘a religious sect’), from Medieval Latin secta (‘retinue’), from Latin secta (‘a faction’). It is quite possible that the modern word is more of a merger between both, however.

Today it means

verb To put (something) down, to rest.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “set”. 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- / set

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