See German · revision 36141

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses|origins=gem-pro *saiwiz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Germany: /zeː/^(Wiktionary)

+ * Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland: /seː/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''See''' ''m'' (genitive Sees, plural Seen)^(Wiktionary)

+ As ''die See'' (feminine, genitive ''der See'', plural ''Seen'') it means the sea.^(Wiktionary)^(Duden Universal 2007)

+ The plural ''Seen'' properly belongs to the feminine; the masculine formerly also had the plural ''See'' or ''Seee''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|sê]], [[inh|goh|sēo]], [[inh|gmw-pro|*saiwi]], [[inh|gem-pro|*saiwiz|t=sea, lake]].^(Kluge 2011|838)^(Wiktionary)^(Kroonen 2013) The same word is [[got|𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃|tr=saiws|t=lake, marshland]], [[non|sær]] (also [[m|non|sjór]]), [[ang|sǣ]], [[ofs|sē]], [[osx|sēo]] and [[nl|zee]], and English [[m|en|sea]].^(Kluge 2011|838)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)

+

+ Its origin is unclear.^(Kluge 2011|838)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) Kluge suggests a form [[gem-pro|*saigwi-]] belonging to [[seihen]] “to strain, trickle”, though no clear reason for the name appears (“the water that has gathered drop by drop, the pool”?).^(Kluge 2011|838) Meid argued for this explanation, comparing the root [[ine-pro|*seikʷ-|t=to pour out, trickle]], and Kroonen also takes the noun as probably derived from the Germanic verb behind that word; a parallel is [[goh|gisig|t=swamp, pool]] beside the verb “to trickle”.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kroonen 2013)^(DWB|15, 2807) Koivulehto connected it with [[ang|sā|t=tub]], the lake being a natural water container, as [[la|lacus]] meant both lake and trough.^(Pfeifer 1993) Orel compares [[m|la|saevus|t=fierce]] and [[lv|sīvs|t=sharp]].^(Orel 2003) Others, Sausverde among them, take it from a non-Indo-European substrate language.^(Kluge 2011|838)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ The word was originally masculine; a feminine arose beside it in English and German, and in Middle High German, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch the gender wavered.^(Kluge 2011|838)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''sēo'' is recorded from the third quarter of the 8th century in glosses, and then in Tatian, Otfrid, Notker, the Ludwigslied and the Wessobrunn Prayer, meaning “lake, sea; pond, body of water”.^(Köbler AHD)^(Schützeichel 2012|277) The Gothic ''saiws'' renders Greek ''límnē'' “lake”.^(DWB|15, 2807)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle High German ''sê'' meant both an inland lake and the sea, usually as a masculine.^(Lexer 1872|2, 840)^(Köbler MHD) In Middle Low German the word for the sea was mostly feminine, and the German split by gender (''der See'' “lake”, ''die See'' “sea”) appears first in the 16th century, in the Pomeranian Kantzow.^(Duden 7 2020)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Kluge 2011|838) It was fully established in the literary language only in the 19th century;^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) Paul still finds wavering in the 18th.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002) In the south ''See'' can also mean a pond.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The feminine took on seamen's phrases: ''in See stechen'' (1720), ''zur See fahren'' (1781), and since the 17th century it has also meant “swell, waves”.^(Paul 2002) Many compounds came from Dutch: [[Seemann]] (1641) beside older Dutch ''zeeman'', [[seekrank]] as a loan translation of ''zeeziek''.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020) [[Seehund]] (1495) is a folk-etymological remaking of the older ''selhund'', while [[Seerose]] (16th century) belongs to the lake sense.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020) The word was borrowed from early Norse into Finnish as [[m|fi|saivo|t=clear spot in a lake]].^(DWB|15, 2807)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''sēo'' appears in glosses.^(Köbler AHD)^(Kluge 2011|838)

+ * 1495 – ''Seehund'' replaces ''selhund''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 16th century – Kantzow distinguishes ''der See'' and ''die See''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1641 – Schottelius records ''Seemann''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 17th century – ''See'' takes the sense “swell”.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1720 – ''In See stechen'' is recorded.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1871 – Heinrich Pfeil's song gives the phrase ''still ruht der See''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(der See)'' A [[m|en|lake]]: a large body of standing water in a hollow of the land: ''Am Ufer des Sees steht eine Hütte.''^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(die See, no plural)'' The [[m|en|sea]], the [[m|en|ocean]]: ''auf hoher See'', ''zur See fahren''.^(Duden Universal 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(die See, nautical)'' The state of the sea, [[m|en|swell]]: ''schwere See''.^(Duden Universal 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(die See, nautical)'' A large [[m|en|wave]], especially one breaking over a ship.^(Duden Universal 2007)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Seemann]]

+ * [[Seehund]]

+ * [[seekrank]]

+ * [[Seerose]]

+ * [[Seefahrt]]

+ * [[Nordsee]]

+ * [[Ostsee]]

+ * [[Binnensee]]

+ * [[Übersee]]

+ * [[Tiefsee]]

+ * [[Seenot]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Seeschifffahrt]]

+ * [[seihen]]

+ * [[Meer]]

+ * [[en|sea]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Still ruht der See'' (colloquial, “the lake lies still”) means that nothing is happening; it comes from a song composed in 1871 by Heinrich Pfeil.^(Duden GWDS 1999) Fixed nautical phrases use the feminine: ''auf See'' “aboard a ship at sea”, ''in See stechen'' “to put to sea”, and ''zur See'' in naval ranks such as ''Leutnant zur See''.^(Duden Universal 2007)^(Paul 2002) Adelung in 1793 already gave the feminine for the sea and the masculine for an inland lake.^(Adelung 1793)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}