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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers with Unicode^® support, but fonts for only the Unicode 2.0 character set (including combining diacritics). Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: sed- 'to sit, set, settle'

Semantic Field: to Sit

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	síde	n	fairy	AHD
	sūide	n	soot	W7
	tánaise	n	tanist	AHD
Irish:	bean-sīdhe	n	banshee	CDC
	sīd	n	fairy abode	W2I
	sīde	n	fairy folk	W2I
	sídhe	n	fairy	AHD
	tánaiste	n	tanist, second	AHD
Gaelic:	b(e)an-sīth	n.fem	banshee	W7/CDC
	sīth	n	fairy	W2I
English
Old English:	besettan	vb	to beset	AHD
	cot-sǣta	n.masc	cottager, cottage inhabitant	AHD/ASD
	land-sǣta	n.masc	colonist, one settled in a country	ASD
	medu-setl	n.neut	lit. mead-seat	LRC
	sadol	n.masc	saddle	W7
	sǣta	n.masc	dweller, resident, inhabitant	AHD/ASD
	se(o)tl/sedl/seðl/seatl	n.neut	seat, settle	W7/ASD
	settan, sette, seted/set(t)	vb.wk	to set	W7
	sittan, sæt, sǣton, seten	vb.str	to sit	W7/ASD
	sōt	n.neut	soot	W7
Middle English:	acceden	vb	to accede	W7
	access	n	access	W7
	ancestre/auncestre	n	ancestor	W7/AHD
	assessen	vb	to assess	W7
	as(s)ise/assize/assys	n	assize	W7/CDC
	bisetten	vb	to beset	AHD
	cesen	vb	to cease	W7
	cession	n	cession	W7
	chaiere	n	chair	W7
	cotsete	n	cottage dweller	AHD
	deces	n	decease	W7
	exceden	vb	to exceed	W7
	eyas	n	eyas	W7
	incessaunt	adj	incessant	W7
	necessarie	adj	necessary	W7
	neias	n	eyas	W7
	nest	n	nest	W7
	nocke	n	nock, notched end	W7
	nyke	n	nick, notch	W7
	pariode	n	period	W7
	possessen	vb	to possess	W7
	preceden	vb	to precede	W7
	predecessour	n	predecessor	W7
	proceden	vb	to proceed	W7
	residen	vb	to reside	W7
	sadel	n	saddle	W7
	se	n	see	W7
	session	n	session	W7
	sete	n	seat	W7
	setten	vb	to set	W7
	settle	n	settle	W7
	settlen	vb	to seat, bring/come to rest	W7
	sewer	n	sewer	W7
	sitten	vb	to sit	W7
	soil	n	soil	W7
	soot	n	soot	W7
	subsidy	n	subsidy	W7
	succeden	vb	to succeed	W7
	surcesen	vb	to surcease	W7
	sursesen	vb	to surcease	W7
English:	abscess	n	collection of pus in inflamed tissue	AHD/W7
	accede	vb.intrans	to approach	AHD/W7
	access	n	onset, outburst, fit of intense feeling	AHD/W7
	ancestor	n	person from whom one is descended	AHD/W7
	anode	n	positive terminal of electrolytic cell	AHD/W7
	antecede	vb.trans	to precede	AHD/W7
	assess	vb.trans	to set rate/amount (e.g. of tax)	AHD/W7
	assiduous	adj	steadily attentive	AHD/W7
	assize	n	ordinance, enactment made by legislative assembly	AHD/W7
	babysit, babysat	vb.str.intrans	to care for children	W7
	banshee	n	female spirit whose wailing warns family of approaching death (Gaelic folklore)	AHD/W7
	beset, beset	vb.irr.trans	to surround, encircle, set about with	AHD/OED
	cathedra	n	bishop's official throne	AHD/W7
	cathedral	n	church containing cathedra	W7
	cathode	n	negative terminal of electrolytic cell	AHD/W7
	cease	vb	to terminate, bring to end	AHD/W7
	cede	vb.trans	to yield/grant (typically by treaty)	AHD/W7
	cession	n	concession, yielding to another	AHD/W7
	chair	n	seat (for one person) with four legs and back	AHD/W7
	concede	vb	to grant as right/privilege	AHD/W7
	cosset	n	pet (lamb)	AHD
	cosset	vb	to pamper	AHD
	decease	n	death, departure from life	AHD/W7
	dissident	adj	disaffected, differing with group/opinion	AHD/W7
	edaphic	adj	re: soil	AHD/W7
	ephedrine	n	crystalline alkaloid extracted from plants	AHD/W7
	episode	n	unit of action in dramatic/literary work	AHD/W7
	ersatz	adj	synthetic, substitute	AHD/W7
	exceed	vb	to extend outside	AHD/W7
	eyas	n	unfledged bird, nestling hawk	AHD/W7
	-hedron	n.sfx	crystal/geometric figure having (specified) form/number of surfaces	AHD/W7
	icosahedron	n	polyhedron with 20 faces	AHD/W7
	incessant	adj	unceasing, continuing/following without interruption	AHD/W7
	insessorial	adj	re: perching	AHD/W7
	insidious	adj	treacherous, awaiting chance to entrap	AHD/W7
	intercede	vb.intrans	to mediate, act with view to reconciling differences between parties	AHD/W7
	isopiestic	adj	isobaric, re: equal pressure	AHD/W7
	method	n	process/procedure for accomplishing something	AHD/W7
	necessary	adj	inescapable, of inevitable nature	AHD/W7
	nest	n	bed/receptacle prepared by bird for eggs/young	AHD/W7
	nest	vb	to build/occupy a nest	W7
	niche	n	recess in wall (esp. for statue)	AHD/W7
	nick	n	slit, notch	AHD/W7
	nide	n	nest/brood of pheasants	AHD
	nidicolous	adj	reared in nest	AHD/W7
	nidifugous	adj	leaving nest soon after hatching	AHD/W7
	nidify	vb	to build a nest	AHD
	nidus	n	nest/breeding place	AHD/W7
	obsess	vb.trans	to beset, harass	AHD/W7
	octahedron	n	solid with 8 plane faces	W7
	-ode	n.sfx	way, path	AHD
	odograph	n	instrument for recording course/distance traveled	AHD
	odometer	n	instrument for measuring distance traversed	AHD/W7
	period	n	sentence, utterance from full stop to stop	AHD/W7
	physostomous	adj	with connecting tube between air bladder and alimentary canal	AHD
	piezo-	pfx	pressure	AHD/W7
	possess	vb.trans	to own/have as property	AHD/W7
	precede	vb	to surpass in rank/dignity/importance	AHD/W7
	predecessor	n	one that precedes	AHD/W7
	preside	vb.intrans	to occupy place/position of authority	AHD/W7
	proceed	vb.intrans	to issue, come forth from source	AHD/W7
	proctodeum	n	inward fold on embryonic ectoderm that develops into anal passage	AHD
	recede	vb.intrans	to withdraw, move back/away	AHD/W7
	reside	vb.intrans	to be incumbent in office/benefice	AHD/W7
	retrocede	vb.intrans	to recede, go back	AHD/W7
	saddle	n	padded/leather-covered seat for (horseback) rider	AHD/W7
	seance	n	sitting, session	AHD/W7
	seat	n	chair, sitting place	AHD/W7
	secede	vb.intrans	to withdraw from communion/organization	AHD/W7
	sedate	adj	unruffled, keeping quiet steady pace/attitude	AHD/W7
	sedentary	adj	settled, not migratory	AHD/W7
	sederunt	n	prolonged sitting (e.g. for discussion)	AHD/W7
	sedile, sedilia	n	seat for clergy near chancel	AHD/CDC
	sediment	n	dregs, matter settled to bottom of liquid	AHD/W7
	see	n	cathedra	AHD/W7
	sessile	adj	attached directly by base (not raised on stalk/peduncle)	AHD/W7
	session	n	meeting(s) of group for transaction of business	AHD/W7
	set, set	vb.irr	to put, place, cause to sit	AHD/W7
	settle	n	wooden bench with arms/high solid back/enclosed foundation	AHD/W7
	settle	vb	to put/fix so as to stay	AHD/W7
	settlement	n	act/process of settling	IEW/W7
	sewer	n	medieval household table officer	AHD/W7
	shee/sidhe	n	fairy fort/abode	W2I
	siege	n.obs	throne, seat of distinction	AHD/W7
	sit, sat	vb.str	to rest upon buttocks/haunches	AHD/W7
	sitz	adj/n	seated; sitting	AHD
	sitzmark	n	depression left in snow by skier falling backward	AHD/W7
	soil	n	earth, firm land	AHD/W7
	soot	n	black ash/powder formed by combustion	AHD/W7
	stomodaeum	n	anterior ectodermal part of alimentary tract/canal	AHD/W7
	subside	vb.intrans	to settle, sink/fall to bottom	AHD/W7
	subsidy	n	gift/grant of money	AHD/W7
	succeed	vb	to come after another in (possession of) estate	AHD/W7
	supersede	vb.trans	to defer, postpone, omit, discontinue	AHD/W7
	surcease	vb	to desist from action	AHD/W7
	synizesis	n	uniting (in pronunciation) adjacent vowels to form one syllable	AHD/W7
	synod	n	council	AHD/W7
	tanist	n	ancient Celtic chief or elected heir apparent	AHD/CDC
	tetrahedron	n	polyhedron of four faces	AHD/W7
	trisoctahedron	n	regular solid with 24 congruent faces	AHD/W7
	Upanishad	prop.n	collection of Vedic religious/philosophical texts (Hinduism)	LRC
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	sedel	n	seat, settle	ASD
	setta	vb	to set	ASD
	sibbe	adj	related	ASD
	sitta	vb	to sit	ASD
Dutch:	kathedraal	n	cathedral	TLL
Old Saxon:	sedel	n	seat, settle	ASD
	settian	vb	to set	ASD
	sittian	vb	to sit	ASD
Old Low German:	land-sētio	n	colonist, one settled in a country	ASD
Old High German:	nest	n	nest	W7
	satal/satul	n.masc	saddle	ASD/W7
	sed(h)al/sethal	n	throne, residence	ASD
	sezzal	n	seat	W7
	sezzan/sezzen	vb	to set	ASD/W7
	sizzan/sizzen	vb	to sit	ASD/W7
German:	Ersatz	n.masc	substitute, replacement	W7
	Kathedrale	n	cathedral	TLL
	Nest	n.neut	nest	LRC
	Sattel	n.masc	saddle	LRC
	setzen	vb	to set	LRC
	Sitz	n.masc	seat	LRC
	sitzen	vb	to sit	W7
	Sitzmarke	n.fem	sitzmark, lit. sitting-mark	W7
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	set	n.neut	seat; raised floor along sides of hall	LRC
	setja	vb	to set, seat	LRC
	sæti	n	seat	W7
Icelandic:	setja	vb	to set	ASD
	sitja	vb	to sit	ASD
	sót	n.neut	soot	ASD
	söðull	n.masc	saddle	ASD
Danish:	katedral	n	cathedral	TLL
Swedish:	besättning	n	crew	TLL
	katedral	n	cathedral	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	satjan	vb	to set	ASD
	sitan	vb.str.V	to sit	LRC
	sitls	n.masc	seat, throne, nest	ASD
	un-sibis	adj	impious	ASD
Italic
Latin:	abscēdo, abscedere	vb	to go away	W7
	abscessus	n.masc	act of going away	W7
	abscessus	vb.ptc	gone away	W7
	accedo, accedere	vb	to approach, go to, be added	W7
	accessus	n.masc	approach	W7
	accessus	vb.ptc	approached	W7
	antecedo, antecedere	vb	to go before	W7
	antecessor	n.masc	one that goes before	W7
	antecessus	vb.ptc	one who came before	W7
	assideō, assidēre	vb	to sit by/near, assist in office of judge	W7
	assīdō, assīdere	vb	to sit down, take a seat	W7
	assiduus	adj	continuous	W7
	cathedra	n.fem	seat, local seat of the Church	W7
	cēdō, cedere, cessī, cessum	vb	to go, cede, depart, withdraw	LRC
	cessans, cessantis	vb.ptc	stopping	W7
	cessio, cessionis	n.fem	giving up	W7
	cesso, cessare	vb	to stop, delay	W7
	cessus	vb.ptc	given up	W7
	cis	prep	on this side	W7
	concedo, concedere	vb	to yield, concede	W7
	decedo, decedere	vb	to die, depart, withdraw	W7
	decessor	n.masc	retiring governor	W7
	decessus	n.masc	death, departure	W7
	dissidens, dissidentis	adj/vb.ptc	sitting apart, disagreeing	W7
	dissideo, dissidēre	vb	to sit apart, disagree	W7
	ephedra	n.fem	a (nearly leafless) desert shrub	W7
	excedo, excedere	vb	to go out	W7
	insessus	vb.ptc	seated on	W7
	insideo, insidēre	vb	to sit on	W7
	insidiae	n.fem.pl	plot, ambush	W7
	insidiosus	adj	plotting	W7
	intercedo, intercedere	vb	to go between	W7
	methodus	n.masc	method	W7
	necessarius	adj	necessary, closely connected	W7
	necesse	adj	requisite, necessary, unavoidable	W7
	nīdus	n.masc	nest	W7
	obsessus	vb.ptc	to be obsessed	W7
	obsido, obsidēre	vb	to obsess, besiege	W7
	periodus	n.fem	rhetorical period	W7
	possessio, possessionis	n.fem	possession	LRC
	possessus	vb.ptc	possessed	W7
	possideo, possidēre	vb	to possess	W7
	praecedo, praecedere	vb	to precede	W7
	praesideo, praesidēre	vb	to guard, preside over, lit. sit in front of	W7
	prōcēdō, procedere, processī, processum	vb	to proceed, advance, go forward	LRC
	recēdō, rēcedere, rēcessī, rēcessum	vb	to recede, retire	LRC
	resideo, residēre	vb	to reside, remain	W7
	retrocedo, retrocedere	vb	to give back	W7
	secedo, secedere	vb	to secede, separate	W7
	sedatus	vb.ptc	calmed, sedate	W7
	sedens, sedentis	adj	sitting	W7
	sedentarius	adj	sedentary	W7
	sedeō, sedēre	vb	to sit	W7
	sedes, sedis	n.fem	seat, habitation	LRC
	sedīle, sedīlis	n.neut	seat, bench, sedile	W7/CLD
	sedimentum	n.neut	settling, sediment	W7
	sēdō, sēdāre	vb	to lay, calm, settle	W7
	sella	n.fem	seat, chair, saddle	W7
	sessilis	adj	low, re: sitting, dwarf (of plants)	W7
	sessio, sessionis	stem	act/period of sitting	W7
	sessus	vb.ptc	sat	W7
	sīdo, sīdere	vb	to sink, settle, sit down	W7
	solium	n.neut	seat	W7
	subsidium	n.neut	help, reserves	W7
	subsido, subsidere	vb	to squat, bow down	W7
	succēdō, succedere, successī, sucessum	vb	to enter, succeed, follow after	LRC
	supersedeō, supersedēre	vb	to sit on, refrain from, be superior to	W7
Vulgar Latin:	assedo, assedēre	vb	to sit beside	W7
	nidax	n.masc	nestling	W7
	nidico, nidicāre	vb	to nest	W7
Late Latin:	incessans, incessantis	adj	incessant, non-stop	W7
	praedecessor	n.masc	predecessor, one who comes before	W7
	synodus	n.masc	synod, meeting, assembly	W7
Middle Latin:	assessare	vb	to assess, impose tax	CDC
Medieval Latin:	assessus	vb.ptc	assessed	W7
	assideō, assidēre	vb	to assess	W7
	periodus	n.fem	period of time; punctuation mark	W7
	retrocedo, retrocedere	vb	to retrocede, give again	W7
New Latin:	Ephedra	prop.n.fem	(genus of) shrub	W7
	-hedron	n.sfx	side, face	W7
	nidus	n.masc	nest, breeding place	W7
	stomodaeum	n.neut	anterior ectodermal part of alimentary canal/tract	W7
	tetrahedron	n.neut	polyhedron with four faces	W7
Old French:	acces	n	access, arrival	AHD
	ancestre	n.masc	ancestor	W7
	asseoir	vb	to seat	W7
	assesser	vb	to assess	CDC
	as(s)ise	n.fem	assize, session, assessment, settlement	W7/CDC
	auncestre	n	ancestor	AHD
	cesser	vb	to stop	W7
	chaiere	vb	to sit	W7
Anglo-French:	asseour	n.masc	seater	W7
	soil	n.masc	seat	W7
Middle French:	acces	n.masc	arrival	W7
	cession	n.fem	action of yielding/giving up	W7
	deces	n.masc	decease	W7
	exceder	vb	to exceed	W7
	methode	n.fem	method	W7
	niais	adj	fresh from the nest; stupid	W7
	niche	n.fem	nest, cavity	W7
	nicher	vb	to nest	W7
	periode	n.fem	period	W7
	possesser	vb	to possess	W7
	précéder	vb	to precede, come before	W7
	prédecessur	n.masc	predecessor	W7
	procéder	vb	to proceed	W7
	résider	vb	to dwell, reside	W7
	sédentaire	adj	sedentary	W7
	sédiment	n.masc	sediment	W7
	session	n.fem	session, assembly, period of work	W7
	superséder	vb	to refrain from	W7
	surseoir	vb	to allow delay	W7
	sursis	vb.ptc	allowed delay	W7
French:	asseoir	vb	to seat oneself	W7
	céder	vb	to yield	W7
	concéder	vb	to concede	W7
	niche	n.fem	nest, cavity	W7
	nid	n	nest	TLL
	odomètre	n.masc	odometer	W7
	rétrocéder	vb	to retrocede, give back	W7
	séance	n.fem	period of sitting for a meeting	W7
	seoir	vb	to sit, fit, be suitable	W7
Baltic
Lithuanian:	sėdėti, sėdi, sėdėjo	vb	to sit	LRC
Slavic
Old Church Slavonic:	sěděti, sěždǫ, sědiši	vb	to sit, remain	LRC
	sěsti, sědǫ, sědeši	vb	to sit down	LRC
	xoditi, xoždǫ, xodiši	vb	to go, walk	LRC
Albanian
Albanian:	sukses	n.masc	success	LRC
Hellenic
Greek:	anodos	n.masc	way up	W7
	edaphos	n.neut	ground, bottom	W7
	hedra	n.fem	seat	W7
	-edron	afx	side	W7
	hezesthai	vb	to sit	W7
	eikosaedron	n.neut	icosahedron	W7
	eisodios	adj	coming in	W7
	ἐνέδρα	n.fem	ambush	LRC
	epeisodios	adj	coming in besides	W7
	ʼέσοδος	n.fem	entrance	LRC
	Ephedra	prop.n.fem	Ephedra	W7
	ephedros	adj	sitting upon	W7
	hizein	vb	to set down	W7
	kathedra	n.fem	seat, local seat of the Church	W7
	kathodos	n.fem	way down	W7
	μέθ-οδος	n.fem	method, pursuit, scientific inquiry	LS
	hodaios	adj	being on the way	W7
	hodometron	n.neut	odometer	W7
	ὁδός	n.fem	way, road	LRC
	periodos	n.masc	circuit, period of time, rhetorical period	W7
	piezein	vb	to press	W7
	piestos	adj	compressible	W7
	synizein	vb	to blend, collapse, sit down together	W7
	synizēsis	n.fem	blending of adjacent vowels in prosody	W7
	synodos	n.masc	meeting, assembly	W7
Late Greek:	synodos	n.masc	synod	W7
	tetraedron	n.neut	tetrahedron	W7
	tetraedros	adj	having four faces	W7
Armenian
Classical Armenian:	nstim	vb	to sit	LRC
Indic
Sanskrit:	upaniṣad	n	Upanishad	W7
	pīḍayati	vb	to squeeze	W7

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
V	=	class 5
adj	=	adjective
afx	=	affix
fem	=	feminine (gender)
intrans	=	intransitive
irr	=	irregular
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
obs	=	obsolete
pfx	=	prefix
pl	=	plural (number)
prep	=	preposition
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
sfx	=	suffix
stem	=	stem
str	=	strong (inflection)
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb
wk	=	weak (inflection)

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
CLD	=	Cassell's Latin Dictionary (1959, rev. 1968)
IEW	=	Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS	=	Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
OED	=	James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W2I	=	Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. (1959)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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