英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

siege (n.)[siege 词源字典]: early 13c., "a seat" (as in Siege Perilous, early 13c., the vacant seat at Arthur's Round Table, according to prophecy to be occupied safely only by the knight destined to find the Holy Grail), from Old French sege "seat, throne," from Vulgar Latin *sedicum "seat," from Latin sedere "sit" (see sedentary). The military sense is attested from c. 1300; the notion is of an army "sitting down" before a fortress.[siege etymology, siege origin, 英语词源]
Siegfried: masc. proper name, German Siegfried, first element from Old High German sigu "victory," from Proto-Germanic *sigiz- "victory" (cognates: Old Frisian si, Old Saxon sigi, Middle Dutch seghe, Dutch zege, German Sieg, Old Norse sigr, Danish seier, Gothic sigis, Old English sige "victory, success, triumph"), from PIE root *segh- "to have, to hold" (cognates: Sanskrit saha- "victory," sahate "overcomes, masters;" see scheme (n.)).

Second element from Old High German frithu "peace" (see Frederick). Siegfried Line, World War I German fortifications in France, is from German Siegfriedlinie, named for the hero in Wagner's "Ring" cycle.
Sienna: city in central Italy, probably from Senones, the name of a Gaulish people who settled there in ancient times. Related: Sienese. The brownish-ochre color (1760) is from Italian terra di Sienna "earth of Siena," where the coloring material first was produced.
sierra (n.): "a range of hills," 1610s, from Spanish sierra "jagged mountain range," literally "saw," from Latin serra "a saw" (compare serrated), which is of unknown origin.
Sierra Leone: West African nation, literally "lion mountains," from Spanish sierra "mountain range" (see sierra) + leon "lion" (see lion). Attested from mid-15c. in Portuguese explorers' accounts, and a very early explanation of the name derives it from the "roaring" of thunder in the mountains. Related: Sierra Leonean.
siesta (n.): "mid-day nap," 1650s, from Spanish siesta, from Latin sexta (hora) "sixth (hour)," the noon of the Roman day (coming six hours after sunrise), from sexta, fem. of sextus "sixth" (see Sextus).
sieve (n.): Old English sife "sieve," from Proto-Germanic *sib (cognates: Middle Dutch seve, Dutch zeef, Old High German sib, German Sieb), from PIE *seib- "to pour out, sieve, drip, trickle" (see soap (n.)). Related to sift. The Sieve of Eratosthenes (1803) is a contrivance for finding prime numbers. Sieve and shears formerly were used in divinations.
sieve (v.): late 15c., from sieve (n.). Related: Sieved; sieving.
sift (v.): Old English siftan "pass (something) through a sieve," from Proto-Germanic *sib- (cognates: Dutch ziften, Middle Low German sichten, German sichten "to sift;" see sieve (n.)). Intransitive sense "to pass loosely or fall scatteredly" is from 1590s. Metaphoric sense of "look carefully through" first recorded 1530s. Related: Sifted; sifting.
sifter (n.): 1570s, agent noun from sift (v.).
sig (n.): abbreviation of signature, 1866.
sigh (v.): mid-13c., probably a Middle English back-formation from sighte, past tense of Old English sican "to sigh," perhaps echoic of the sound of sighing. Related: Sighed; sighing.
sigh (n.): early 14c., from sigh (v.).
sight (n.): Old English sihð, gesiht, gesihð "thing seen; faculty of sight; aspect; vision; apparition," from Proto-Germanic *sekh(w)- (cognates: Danish sigte, Swedish sigt, Middle Dutch sicht, Dutch zicht, Old High German siht, German Sicht, Gesicht), stem that also yielded Old English seon (see see (v.)), with noun suffix -th (2), later -t.
Verily, truth is sight. Therefore if two people should come disputing, saying, 'I have seen,' 'I have heard,' we should trust the one who says 'I have seen.' [Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 5.14.4]
Meaning "perception or apprehension by means of the eyes" is from early 13c. Meaning "device on a firearm to assist in aiming" is from 1580s. A "show" of something, hence, colloquially, "a great many; a lot" (late 14c.). Sight for sore eyes "welcome visitor" is attested from 1738; sight unseen "without previous inspection" is from 1892. Sight gag first attested 1944. Middle English had sighty (late 14c.) "visible, conspicuous; bright, shining; attractive, handsome;" c. 1400 as "keen-sighted;" mid-15c. as "discerning" (compare German sichtig "visible").
sight (v.): 1550s, "look at, view, inspect," from sight (n.). From c. 1600 as "get sight of," 1842 as "take aim along the sight of a firearm." Related: Sighted; sighting.
sighting (n.): "instance of catching sight," 1853, verbal noun from sight (v.).
sightless (adj.): late 13c., from sight (n.) + -less. Related: Sightlessly; sightlessness.
sights (n): "features of a place that are deemed worth seeing," 1630s, plural of sight (n.).
sightseeing (n.): also sight-seeing, 1821, from sight (see sights) + present participle of see (v.). Sight-see (v.) is from 1824. Sight-seer first recorded 1821.
sigil (n.): "a sign, mark, or seal," mid-15c., from Late Latin sigillum, from Latin sigilla (neuter plural) "statuettes, little images, seal," diminutive of signum "sign" (see sign (n.)). In astrology, an occult device supposed to have great power (1650s).
When my mistress died, she had under her arm-hole a small scarlet bag full of many things, which, one that was there delivered unto me. There was in this bag several sigils, some of Jupiter in Trine, others of the nature of Venus, some of iron, and one of gold, of pure angel-gold, of the bigness of a thirty-three shilling piece of King James's coin. ["The Antiquarian Repertory," London, 1780]