*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of soken

From Middle English sookne, socne (“district held by a socage”), from Old English sōcn (“jurisdiction, prosecution, soke”, literally “act of seeking”), from Proto-West Germanic *sōkni, from Proto-Germanic *sōkniz (“seeki

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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.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

The 'resort' (right) of specific farmers to have their grain ground at a specific mill or, inversely, the right of a mill to that custom. · A right of prosecution and judgement. · The area over which this right was established. · A place that is regularly frequented.

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

From Middle English sookne, socne (“district held by a socage”), from Old English sōcn (“jurisdiction, prosecution, soke”, literally “act of seeking”), from Proto-West Germanic *sōkni, from Proto-Germanic *sōkniz (“seeking, inquiry”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g-. Akin to Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌽𐍃 (sōkns, “controversy”), Old English sacu (“legal case, dispute”), sēcan (“to seek”), Swedish socken (“parish”), Danish sogn (“parish”), Norwegian sokn (“parish”). More at sake, seek, soke. See also Medieval Latin sōca (“right of jurisdiction”), English soke.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*seh₂g-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionsookneenm
  • Inherited-form mentionsōcnang · jurisdiction, prosecution, soke
  • Inherited-form mention*sōknigmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*sōknizgem-pro · seeking, inquiry
  • Derivation mention*seh₂g-ine-pro
  • Cognate mention𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌽𐍃got · controversy
  • Cognate mentionsacuang · legal case, dispute
  • Cognate mentionsockensv · parish
  • Cognate mentionsognda · parish
  • Cognate mentionsoknno · parish
  • Cognate mentionsokeen
Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*seh₂g-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "sookne"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English sookne"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sōcn",
        "t": "jurisdiction, prosecution, soke",
        "lit": "act of seeking"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sōcn (“jurisdiction, prosecution, soke”, literally “act of seeking”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*sōkni"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *sōkni"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*sōkniz",
        "t": "seeking, inquiry"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *sōkniz (“seeking, inquiry”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*seh₂g-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g-"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌽𐍃",
        "t": "controversy"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌽𐍃 (sōkns, “controversy”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "sacu",
        "t": "legal case, dispute"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sacu (“legal case, dispute”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "socken",
        "t": "parish"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish socken (“parish”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "sogn",
        "t": "parish"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish sogn (“parish”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "sokn",
        "t": "parish"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian sokn (“parish”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la-med",
        "2": "sōca",
        "t": "right of jurisdiction"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin sōca (“right of jurisdiction”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "soke"
      },
      "expansion": "English soke"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "sookne",
      "sookne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "socne",
      "socne#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "sōcn",
      "socn#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*sōkni",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/sōkni"
    ],
    [
      "*sōkniz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sōkniz"
    ],
    [
      "*seh₂g-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/seh₂g-"
    ],
    [
      "𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌽𐍃",
      "𐍃𐍉𐌺𐌽𐍃#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "sacu",
      "sacu#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "sēcan",
      "secan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "socken",
      "socken#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "sogn",
      "sogn#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "sokn",
      "sokn#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "sake",
      "sake#English"
    ],
    [
      "seek",
      "seek#English"
    ],
    [
      "soke",
      "soke#English"
    ],
    [
      "sōca",
      "soca#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "soke",
      "soke#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The 'resort' (right) of specific farmers to have their grain ground at a specific mill or, inversely, the right of a mill to that custom.",
        "A right of prosecution and judgement.",
        "The area over which this right was established.",
        "A place that is regularly frequented."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "historical",
        "uncountable",
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "2f3ce41fd501110900bd1532fa074dafa65e3bfb0d6ab92ccef05ec10bf29f37",
      "rawRecordSha256": "7ed45f2ed682db8ff4411e2310dce8a4bdce7011066f9c9ee275889602f3f41f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2144778
    }
  ],
  "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 soken →

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-c29rZW4