seien

See also: séien

Basque

Numeral

seien

1. genitive plural of sei

Catalan

Verb

seien

1. third-person plural imperfect indicative of seure

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzaɪ̯ən/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sei‧en
• Homophone: seihen

Verb

seien

1. first/third-person plural subjunctive I of sein
   • 1788, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont:

     "Im Namen des Königs, und kraft besonderer von Seiner Majestät uns übertragenen Gewalt, alle seine Unterthanen, wes Standes sie seien, zugleich die Ritter des goldnen Vließes zu richten, erkennen wir—"

     "In the King's name, and invested by his Majesty with authority to judge all his subjects of whatever rank [they be], not excepting the knights of the Golden Fleece, we declare—"

Anagrams

• eines, Eisen, niese, seine

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English seċġan (“to say”), from Proto-West Germanic *saggjan, from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną. The pronunciation with /æi̯/ is from generalization of Old English inflected forms with the stem sæġ-, whereas the pronunciation with /d͡ʒ/ is from inflected forms with the stem seċġ-.

Alternative forms

• saien, sain, saine, san, sæin, sæcgen, sæcgene, sæcgæn, sæcgan, sægen, sægenne, sæggen, sæggene, sayen, secgan, secgæn, secgon, secgen, secgene, secgenne, secȝende, sæcgenne, segen, seggen, seggon, seggane, segcean, seȝȝen, seggen, sein, seine, seigen, seiȝen, seiȝn, seuggen, seyen, seyn, sien, sigen, sucgen, sugen, suggen
• ziggen, ziggene (Kent)

Pronunciation

• (from Old English sæġ-) IPA^(key): /ˈsæi̯ən/
• (from Old English seċġ-) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛd͡ʒən/

Verb

seien

1. To say, that is:
   1. To declare, to state in speech (and, by extension, in writing)
   2. To answer, to reply
   3. To call, to name or define
   4. To describe; to narrate
   5. To mean, to intend to say
   6. To teach or direct
   7. (ecclesiastical) To recite, to sing
   8. (law) To affirm, to assert
   9. (law) To plead
2. (interjection) Say!

Conjugation

Conjugation of seien (weak in -de)

infinitive	(to) seien, seie
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	seie	seide
2nd-person singular	seiest	seidest
3rd-person singular	seieth	seide
subjunctive singular	seie
imperative singular		—
plural1	seien, seie	seiden, seide
imperative plural	seieth, seie	—
participles	seiynge, seiende	seid, yseid

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

• durren seien
• man seieth
• nombren and seien
• seien afore, biforen
• seien alas
• seien and holden
• seien and singen
• seien as to berken
• seien aye
• seien ayen
• seien bodeword
• seien chek, chek-mat
• seien despit
• seien lofword of
• seien nai
• seien of, on, unto, upon
• seien ouen talent
• seien saue
• seien soth
• to seien
• withseien

Descendants

• English: say
• Scots: say, sa
• Yola: zey, zei

References

• “seien, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English sǣġan, from Proto-Germanic *saigijaną.

Alternative forms

• seȝen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsæi̯ən/

Verb

seien

1. To fall down, to sink
2. To go to
3. (of time) To pass, to go by

Conjugation

Conjugation of seien (weak in -de)

infinitive	(to) seien, seie
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	seie	seide
2nd-person singular	seiest	seidest
3rd-person singular	seieth	seide
subjunctive singular	seie
imperative singular		—
plural1	seien, seie	seiden, seide
imperative plural	seieth, seie	—
participles	seiynge, seiende	seid, yseid

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

• seien aslepe
• seien doun
• seien of lif

References

• “seien, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

seien m

1. definite singular of sei

Anagrams

• eisen, isene, neies, neise, niese, -isene, seine, si-ene, sneie

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

seien

1. definite singular of sei