Etymograph

English

sie

Sie comes from Old English sīgan ‘to sink, descend’, from Proto-Germanic *sīganą ‘to strain, drop’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seykʷ-1‘to pour, strain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sīganą1‘to strain, drop’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sīgan2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sīgan1‘to sink, descend’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sien1
  6. Englishtodaysie1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sie
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English sigan

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*seykʷ-Wiktionary, English sie‘to pour, strain’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sīganąWiktionary, English sie‘to strain, drop’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sīganWiktionary, Old English siganreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sīganWiktionary, English sie‘to sink, descend’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sienWiktionary, English sie
  6. EnglishtodaysieWiktionary, English sie

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- ‘to pour, strain’

sea, soul, sigh, sicker, sitch, sike, 2 more

through Proto-West Germanic *sīgan

seel

Today it means

verb To sink; fall; drop.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sie”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English sigan. 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 *seykʷ- / sie

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