seu

Forms

seu (conjunction)^[1]

Etymology

It is the shortened form of sīve, from sī (“if”) and -ve (“or”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has sī ego volō seu nōlō, “whether I like it or not”.^[2] Köbler first records it in Terence.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Seu has the meanings of sīve: “or if”, and repeated, seu … seu, “whether … or”; it introduces alternative possibilities (“either … or”), a single alternative (“or else”), and a more exact expression (“or rather”, seu potius).^[2][1] The OLD notes that seu is rare in most writers of the Republic, except perhaps Caesar, and that the two forms are often combined, especially in verse (Horace: Rōmae seu fors ita iusserit exsul).^[2]

Church Latin uses seu … vel for “whether … or”.^[4] Medieval Latin also uses it for “and”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sī ego volō seu nōlō.^[2][3]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.^[3]
• 65–8 BC – Horace: Rōmae seu fors ita iusserit exsul.^[2][3]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. Or if.^[2]
2. seu … seu, whether … or; either … or.^[2][1][4]
3. Or else; or rather.^[2][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) And.^[5]

Related words

• sīve
• sī
• vel
• aut

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill