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Etymology and origin of the Old Norse word sá

sá1 that, this

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
980–1015 runic inscription N 184
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *sa
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *só

Forms

sá (feminine sú, neuter þat)[1]

Etymology

The word for “that, this” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sa (“that”),[1][2] from Proto-Indo-European *só.[1] Orel sets the Old Norse masculine beside Gothic 𐍃𐌰 (sa) and Old English sē, and traces it to the same Indo-European demonstrative as Ancient Greek ὁ (ho, “the”).[2] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon adds Old Saxon sē and the runic Proto-Norse ᛊᚨ (sa).[3]

The feminine sú belongs to the same pronoun (Gothic 𐍃𐍉 (so)), while the neuter þat is built on another stem, which Orel reconstructs as Proto-Germanic *þat.[2][3] The pronoun is also the first part of þessi (“this”) and sási, which add the particle -si.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Proto-Norse sa may stand on the Danish runic amulet DR 261, which Rundata dates after Imer to 375/400–560/570: its ek erilaz sa wilagaz hateka is read either “I, the eril, am called the wily one”, with sa as the pronoun, or with a name Sawilagaz.[4] In Old Norse proper the word is first dated on the Norwegian runestone N 184 of 980–1015, where it points back to a man just named: [s]a × uar tuþr × i liþi (normalised Sá varð dauðr í liði) “he died in the host”.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Used with a noun the word is a demonstrative, “that”; it also stands alone for a person or thing already named, almost as a personal pronoun “he, she”, and with the particle er it forms a relative, sá er “he who”.[7][8] Before an adjective with the article it shades into an article itself (sá inn ungi maðr “that young man”).[7][9] Cleasby and Vigfússon note that the older vellums often have sjá for both masculine and feminine (sjá maðr, sjá kona).[10] It is among the hundred most frequent words of Old Icelandic prose.[11]

The word lives on as Icelandic sá and Faroese sá.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 375/400–560/570 – Proto-Norse sa on the runic amulet DR 261, if read as the pronoun (Imer's dating).[4]
  • 980–1015 – [s]a × uar tuþr “he died” on the Norwegian runestone N 184.[5]
  • 1000–1100 – the feminine Sú on the runestone N 68.[12]
  • 1150 – sa in the First Grammatical Treatise, by IcePaHC's dating.[13]
  • 1200–1225 – sá, þat, þeir in the Icelandic manuscript AM 677 4to.[14]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. with a noun: that, this (sá maðr “that man”).[7][9]
  2. such, of that kind (varð sá fundr þeirra, at … “their meeting was such that …”).[7][15]
  3. before an adjective with the article, close to the definite article: sá inn ungi maðr “that young man”.[7][9]
  4. standing alone: he, she, it; the one already named.[7][8]
  5. with er or sem, as a relative pronoun: sá er “he who”.[7][10]

Word family

  • þessi
  • sási

Descendants

  • Icelandic sá[1]
  • Faroese sá[1]
  • Old Swedish sa[1]

sá2 to sow

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1200–1225 AM 619 4to
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *sēaną
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-

Forms

sá (present sær, past seri or søri, later sáði; past participle sáinn), strong verb[15][16]

Etymology

The word for “to sow” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sēaną (“to sow”),[17][18] from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“to sow”).[17][1] The Germanic cognates are Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌰𐌽 (saian), Old English sāwan, Old Saxon sāian and Old High German sāen.[17][19] Outside Germanic it belongs with Latin serō (“to sow”), Lithuanian sėti and Proto-Slavic *sěti.[18][3]

Kroonen notes that Germanic shows no trace of a present suffix,[17] and that the hiatus in *sēan- was filled by ⟨j⟩ or ⟨w⟩ in the daughter languages.[17] The Old Norse past (Kroonen's ⟨sera⟩) keeps the old reduplicated preterite, like 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍉 (saiso), from Proto-Germanic third person singular *se-sōe.[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first dated in the Norwegian Homily Book, AM 619 4to of 1200–1225, which has the present ſær and the past ſere; the Icelandic AM 677 4to of the same years has the past seri and the participle sáit.[20][14] Cleasby and Vigfússon quote the literal sense from the Icelandic Homily Book: bar út korn sitt ok seri “he carried out his corn and sowed”.[10]

Semantic evolution

Besides sowing seed (with the dative) and sowing a field (with the accusative), the verb meant scattering anything broadcast: gold, silver or ashes.[8][9] Cleasby and Vigfússon quote ætla ek at sá silfrinu “I mean to scatter the silver” from Egils saga.[10] The laws use it of tilling a farm's fields: þá skal hann sá þá jǫrð “then he shall sow that land”.[10][21]

The strong past seri, søri gave way to the weak sáði, which Cleasby and Vigfússon already find in old manuscripts and which is the modern form.[10][15] The verb continues as Icelandic sá, Faroese sáa, Swedish så and Danish så.[3][1]

Timeline

  • 1200–1225 – the present ſær and the past ſere in the Norwegian AM 619 4to.[20]
  • 1200–1225 – the past seri and the participle sáit in the Icelandic AM 677 4to.[14]
  • 1250–1300 – the weak past saðe beside saat in Holm perg 6 fol.[22]

Meanings

Verb

  1. to sow (seed, with the dative; a field, with the accusative).[7][9][8]
  2. to scatter, strew broadcast (gold, silver, ashes).[8][16]

Word family

  • sáð
  • sæði
  • sáld

Descendants

  • Icelandic sá[1]
  • Faroese sáa[1]
  • Norwegian Nynorsk så[1]
  • Swedish så[1]
  • Danish så[1]
  • Norwegian Bokmål så[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 310
  3. ^ a b c d e f Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. sá
  4. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. DR 261
  5. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 184
  6. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. N 184
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. sá
  8. ^ a b c d e Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. sá
  9. ^ a b c d e Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 511
  10. ^ a b c d e f Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 516
  11. ^ de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea (1999), Grundwortschatz Altisländisch, Leiden, p. 10
  12. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 68
  13. ^ Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
  14. ^ a b c Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
  15. ^ a b c Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 355
  16. ^ a b Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. sá
  17. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 428
  18. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 327
  19. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 239
  20. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
  21. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 532
  22. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Holm perg 6 fol

Related etymologies

  • visk · also from Proto-Germanic
  • klubba · also from Proto-Germanic
  • hǫggva · also from Proto-Germanic
  • taka · also from Proto-Germanic
  • garðr · also from Proto-Germanic
  • geta · also from Proto-Germanic
  • draga · also from Proto-Germanic
  • flatr · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“Sá.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/non/s%C3%A1. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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