English word origin

Etymology of Seek

* As a North/Low German surname, from Seek, variant of Seeck, shortened from compound names containing the element Sieg (“victory”) (as in Siegfried) or siech (“ill”). * As a Chinese surname, Romanized from 薛 (xuē), see

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

name

A surname from German.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "nds",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "zh",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Chinese"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Seek",
      "Seek#German"
    ],
    [
      "Seeck",
      "Seeck#German"
    ],
    [
      "Sieg",
      "Sieg#German"
    ],
    [
      "Siegfried",
      "Siegfried#English"
    ],
    [
      "siech",
      "siech#German"
    ],
    [
      "薛",
      "薛#Chinese"
    ],
    [
      "Xue",
      "Xue#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A surname from German."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "7652d82b22d698a14ce41bb7b8873d161080dc6220a45cd8ac187748ab47fc29",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c52439a45699666acb1df8a5d495316656ff153c3f8f2c47610497dc87db51a8",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 8166146
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Seek →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-U2Vlaw