Etymologically
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sedeo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈsɛ.de.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.de.o][1]

Forms

sedeō (present infinitive sedēre, perfect active sēdī, supine sessum); second conjugation, impersonal in the passive[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sed-ē- (“to be seated”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sed-eh₁- (“to be seated”), a stative verb also found in Sabellic.[2][1] From the same root come sēdēs “seat”, sella “chair” and sēdāre “to settle, calm”.[2]

Cognate with Umbrian sersitu (“let him sit”),[2] and with Old Irish saidid (“sits”), Ancient Greek ἕζομαι (hézomai, “to sit down”), Lithuanian sėdė́ti (“to sit”), Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (sitan, “to sit”) and English sit.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Livius Andronicus onwards,[2] whose character is told “stay here and sit until you see me come home”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant to sit, of people and of birds perching.[3] It was used of magistrates and judges sitting in office, of armies encamped or lying in ambush, and of peoples settled in a land.[3] Things were said to sit or rest in place.[3]

It meant to sit idle, as in Terence and Cicero, and to stay still.[3] Things came to rest or lodged somewhere, a feeling became fixed in the heart, and a decision was settled, as in Virgil.[3] It also meant to sink or subside, and to lie low or flat.[3] It survives as Italian sedere, Romanian ședea and French seoir, and in Medieval Ibero-Romance Latin it could mean “to be”.[1] English session, sediment and preside come from it.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for sitting and for an army encamped.[3][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it for sitting idle at home.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of Marius sitting in court.[3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a settled decision.[3][5]
  • late 14th century – English session is first recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sit, be seated, (of birds) to perch.[3][6]
  2. To sit (as a judge or magistrate).[3][1]
  3. (of an army) To be encamped; to lie in ambush.[3][1]
  4. To be settled (in a land).[3]
  5. To rest, lie (in a place).[3]
  6. To sit idle; to stay.[3][1]
  7. To come to rest, lodge.[3]
  8. To become fixed; to be resolved.[3][1]
  9. To sink, subside.[3][1]

Word family

  • assideō
  • circumsedeō
  • circumsideō
  • dēsideō
  • dissideō
  • insessus
  • īnsideō
  • obses
  • obsideō
  • persedeō
  • solium
  • sēdēs
  • sella
  • English session
  • English sediment
  • English preside
  • English sit

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press