Etymologically
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siège

Etymology and origin of the French word siège

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1100, Chanson de Roland
Inherited from
Latin *sedicum via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (sedeō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sjɛʒ/[1]

Forms

siège m (plural sièges)[1] Old French siege, sege, saige; written siege (1694), siége (1740–1835), siège from 1878.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French siege, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sedicum or “*sedica”,[3][2][4][5][6] which supposes a verb *sedicō formed from Latin sedeō (“to sit”), the source of seoir.[2][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg point out that this verb cannot be seen in siéger (1611) or Old Occitan “setgar” “to besiege”, both derived from the noun.[4] Wiktionary also mentions a diminutive “sediculum”.[1] Latin “sedes” gave Old French “sied”, “sié” “seat, see”, used until the 16th century.[2]

Compare Old Occitan seïge.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both main senses, “place where one is established” and “place where one sits”, are in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100): Turpin promises the dying knights sieges in paradise.[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is hard to tell which sense came first, and each gave new ones.[4] From the seat of a person in authority (1119) came the royal seat, the judge's bench (1549), the bishop's see (siège épiscopal, 1690) and the seat of an institution or firm (siège social, 1936).[3][7][8] As furniture, siège is any seat (Wace, 1160–1174), the seat of a saddle (1260) and of a car.[3][7]

The military sense, the camp of an army around a fortress, is also very old (1080), and the operations to take a place remain a living sense.[2][4] In literary use siège is also the seat or centre of something, as Descartes's “principal siège de l'âme”.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – A place, a seat (Roland); the siege of a town.[3][2]
  • 1119 – The seat of a person in authority.[3]
  • 1160–1174 – A piece of furniture to sit on (Wace).[3]
  • c. 1210 – Siege emperial, the imperial throne.[3]
  • 1549 – A judge's seat.[3][7]
  • 1611 – Siéger.[4]
  • 1936 – Siège social.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A seat or chair; the seat of a vehicle.[8][1]
  2. A siege.[1][2]
  3. The seat of an authority or business; headquarters: siège social.[8][1]
  4. (literary) The seat or centre of something.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 409b
  7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Siège.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/si%C3%A8ge. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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