Where does “sue” come from?
Sue descends from Middle English sewen, Old English sīwian, Proto-Germanic siwjaną, and Proto-Indo-European sīw-, whose original meaning remains uncertain.
sue (English): To file a legal action against someone, generally...
Definitions
- To file a legal action against someone, generally...
Ancestry of “sue”, step by step
sue traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English seuen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | seuen | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | suer | nominative singular of seror; to dry |
| 3 | Old French | sivre | to follow |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | sequere | to follow; second-person singular future active... |
| 5 | Latin | sequor | I follow, come or go after |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | sekʷōr | follow, come/go after |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sékʷetor | to be following |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | sekʷ- | to follow; to see; to say |
via Middle English sewen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | sewen | To sew; to engage in sewing |
| 2 | Old English | sīwian | to sew |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | siwjaną | to sew |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | sīw- | to sew |
via Middle English siwen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | siwen | — |