Where does “sick” come from?
Sick comes from English seek, which derives from Proto-Indo-European so, Latin si, and Proto-Indo-European sey- combined with the suffix -kos.
sick (English): In poor health; ill; Having an urge to vomit;...
Definitions
- In poor health; ill; Having an urge to vomit;...
Ancestry of “sick”, step by step
sick traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English sic
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sic | Thus; thus written; To mark with a bracketed sic;... |
| 2 | English | seek | To try to find; to look for; to search for; To... |
| 3 | Middle English | seke | Alternative form of seken |
| 4 | Old English | sēċan | to seek or inquire about |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | sōkijan | to seek, to look for |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | sōkijaną | to seek, look for |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | séh₂gyeti | to give a sign |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | seh₂g- | to seek out |