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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word se

se1 reflexive pronoun

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1140 Cantar de mio Cid
Inherited from
Latin se
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *se
Etymology tree of se1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sē
French se
French soi
Italian se
Italian sé
Italian si
Spanish se
From the same root · se1
Latin sēd ← sē
Latin sēdulō ← sē
Italian andarsene ← si

Pronunciation

Forms

se m or f by sense (third person singular and plural, including ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’)[1]

Etymology

The reflexive pronoun is inherited from Latin sē (“oneself”), the accusative of the Latin reflexive pronoun.[2][3][1][4] The same word is Portuguese se, Galician se, Catalan se, French se, Italian si and Romanian se.[5][6]

The Latin form is Proto-Italic *s(w)ē, from Proto-Indo-European *se, the accusative of a pronoun meaning “oneself” that also gave the possessive suus.[4] The stressed dative sibi gave sí, used after prepositions.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140) has se as an unstressed personal pronoun, also shortened to s', and grouped with other pronouns (se me entró) or as a dative of interest: myos aueres se me an leuado “my goods have been taken from me”.[8] The Liber regum (c. 1194–1211) writes Et el fo s'end con Deus “and he went away with God”.[9]

Semantic evolution

In the Lapidario of Alfonso X it is the reflexive: a stone asconde se “hides itself” when the planet sets.[10] Autoridades defines it as the pronoun for the same person who governs the verb, and notes that it goes before me, te and le.[11] Terreros adds that with verbs it gives them a passive value, as in se cuenta and se dice, which he renders with French on.[12] The Academy now distinguishes the reflexive and reciprocal use, the passive with se and the impersonal use.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses the reflexive se.[8]
  • c. 1194–1211 – the Liber regum writes the shortened s'.[9]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it as a reflexive.[10]
  • 1786–1793 – Terreros records the passive use, se dice.[12]
  • 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from Latin se.[13]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. The third person reflexive or reciprocal pronoun, “himself, herself, itself, themselves; each other”, also with usted: Se lavó las manos. Se saludaron al llegar.[2][1]
  2. With a transitive verb in the active, marking a passive sense: Aquí se alquilan bicicletas.[2][14]
  3. With a verb in the singular, marking an impersonal subject, “one, people”: En verano se duerme mal.[2][14]
  4. Part of pronominal verbs, such as quejarse and arrepentirse.[14][1]

se2 indirect object pronoun

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1140 Cantar de mio Cid, as ge
Inherited from
Latin illi via Old Spanish
Ultimate origin
Latin ille

Pronunciation

Forms

se m or f by sense (third person, including ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’)[1]

Etymology

The indirect object pronoun is inherited from Old Spanish ge, inherited from Latin illī (“to him, to her”), the dative of ille (“that”).[2][14][1] Portuguese lhe and Italian gli continue the same Latin dative.[1][15]

Old Spanish used it before an accusative pronoun, as in gelo and its feminine and plural forms, until the 15th century;[16] Gómez de Silva derives the group from Vulgar Latin illi illu, dative plus accusative, and notes that the plural group was replaced by the singular.[16] Wiktionary explains the change of form by sound: the /ʒe/ of the old pronoun became /ʃe/ in early modern Spanish and was then taken for /se/ instead of becoming /xe/.[1] Wikcionario places it after the readjustment of the sibilants in the 16th century.[17] Gómez de Silva also points to the influence of the reflexive se1 in phrases that were otherwise identical.[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140) has the form ge: the king's letter orders that nobody give the Cid lodging, „e aquel que ge la diesse sopiesse vera palabra” “and whoever gave it to him should know for certain” what he would lose.[9][18]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's Lapidario the dative already combines with the accusative: tirar ge lo a “it will remove it from him”.[10] Medieval texts also write it ie and ye (yelos).[19] The modern form se takes the place of le and les before lo, la, los and las, as the Academy defines it.[2][20]

Timeline

  • c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses ge.[9][18]
  • 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario writes ge lo.[10]
  • 1400s – gelo and its forms are still in use.[16]
  • 1500s – the readjustment of the sibilants leaves the form se.[17]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. The third person indirect object pronoun, “to him, to her, to it, to you (usted, ustedes), to them”, used instead of le, les before lo, la, los, las: Se lo expliqué ayer.[2][1][14]

Usage notes

When se meets another unstressed pronoun it comes first (se me olvidó), as Autoridades already noted.[11] The accented sé is a different word, a form of saber or ser.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. se
  3. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. se
  6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. se
  7. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. sí
  8. ^ a b c Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. se
  9. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. se
  10. ^ a b c d Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. se
  11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro
  12. ^ a b Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 448
  13. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 962
  14. ^ a b c d e Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. se
  15. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2029
  16. ^ a b c d Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 635
  17. ^ a b Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
  18. ^ a b Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. ge
  19. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock
  20. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. se

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Se.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/se. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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