sek- The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Appendix I

Indo-European Roots

ENTRY:	sek-
DEFINITION:	To cut. Derivatives include scythe, Saxon, skin, insect, and sickle. 1. scythe, from Old English sthe, sigthe, sickle, from Germanic segith, sickle. 2. Suffixed o-grade form sok--. saw¹; hacksaw, from Old English sagu, sage, saw, from Germanic sag, a cutting tool, saw. 3. Suffixed o-grade form sok-yo-. sedge, from Old English secg, sedge, from Germanic sagjaz, “sword,” plant with a cutting edge. 4. Suffixed o-grade form sok-so-. a. zax, from Old English seax, knife, from Germanic sahsam, knife, sword; b. Saxon, from Late Latin Sax* (plural Saxons), a Saxon, from West Germanic tribal name Saxon-, Saxon, traditionally (but doubtfully) regarded as from Germanic sahsam (as if “warrior with knives”). 5. Extended root skend-, to peel off, flay. skin, from Old Norse skinn,* skin, from Germanic skinth-. 6. Basic form sek-. a. secant, –sect, sectile, section, sector, segment; dissect, insect, intersect, resect, transect, from Latin secre, to cut; b. seecatch, from Russian sech', to cut. 7. Lengthened-grade form sk-. sickle, from Latin scula,* sickle. 8. Possible suffixed variant form sak-so-. sassafras, saxatile; saxicolous, saxifrage, from Latin saxum,* stone (< “broken-off piece”?). (Pokorny 2. sk- 895, sken-(d-) 929.) See also extended roots skei-, sker-¹.


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.