sis

Forms

sis (feminine sise, masculine plural sis, feminine plural sises)^[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from French seoir (“to be situated”), in the verb's old sense “to be located”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Seoir is recorded in that sense from about 1155, in the Brut of Wace, and continues Medieval Latin sedeō (“to be situated”) (979–980), from Classical sedeō (“to sit, to stay”).^[2] Wiktionary instead traces the participle straight to Latin sessus.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert, the GLLF and Rey date the adjective to 1290.^[3][4][6] The TLFi's first quotation is from 1385, in the charters of the county of Rethel: une vigne sise au ban de Bourcq, “a vineyard situated in the district of Bourcq”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the one meaning “situated, located”, but its use narrowed: since 1671 it has been a term of law, used of land and buildings in deeds and notices.^[6] Littré says it is hardly used outside legal practice.^[7] In modern French it is also a literary word, found in Maupassant, Barrès, Daudet and Mauriac.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1290 – First record of the adjective.^[3][4][6]
• 1385 – Une vigne sise au ban de Bourcq in a charter of Rethel.^[2]
• 1671 – From this date the word is limited to legal usage.^[6]
• 1883 – Maupassant uses it in Une vie of a small house near Goderville.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (law, literary) situated, located (of land or a building): une maison sise rue de la Paix.^[2][5][7]

Related words

• seoir
• séant
• Latin sedeō

Usage notes

The feminine sise is pronounced /siz/.^[3][4] The word is a homophone of ci, scie, si and six.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette