English
size
Size comes from Middle English syse ‘regulation’, from Old French cise, short for assise, from asseoir ‘to sit down’, from Latin assideō.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-1‘to sit’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeō1‘to sit’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEassideō1‘to sit by’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400asseoir1‘to sit down’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400assise1‘assize’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400cise1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500syse1‘regulation, control, limit’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606size1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English size
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “to scant my sizes”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-Wiktionary, English size‘to sit’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsedeōWiktionary, English size‘to sit’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEassideōWiktionary, English size‘to sit by’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400asseoirWiktionary, English size‘to sit down’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400assiseWiktionary, English size‘assize’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ciseWiktionary, English size
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500syseWiktionary, English size‘regulation, control, limit’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606sizeWiktionary, English size. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “to scant my sizes”
The story
Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid”, from Middle English syse, sise (‘regulation, control, limit’), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (‘assize’), from the verb asseoir (‘to sit down’), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (‘to, towards, at’) + sedeō (‘sit; settle down’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with size, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’
- set ← setten ← settan ← *sattjan ← *satjaną
- sell ← selle ← selle ← sele ← sella
- seat ← sete ← sǣte ← sæti ← *sētiją
- method ← methode ← methodus ← μέθοδος ← ὁδός
- chair ← chayere ← chaiere ← cathedra ← κᾰθέδρᾱ
- sitting ← sittinge ← sittende ← *sitjandz ← *sitjaną
- sit ← sitten ← sittan ← *sittjan ← *sitjaną
- settle ← setl ← *setlaz ← *sed-lo-
- nest ← *nestą ← *nisdós
- possess ← possessen ← possesser ← possessus ← *pótis
- niche ← *nīdicāre ← nīdus ← *nizdos ← *nisdós
- saddle ← sadel ← sadol ← *sadul ← *sadulaz
176 more relatives in the full family tree
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Another origin of size
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500syse
- Englishtodaysize
From Middle English syse, of unclear origin; related to Old Italian sisa (‘a glue used by painters’), perhaps ultimately related to size / syse (‘amount’), or perhaps shortened from assisa, from assiso (‘to make to sit, to seat, to place’)uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
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Today it means
noun The dimensions or magnitude of a thing; how big something is.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “size”. 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- / size