sethen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• cethyn, sethyn, seþine, seþen, seoþe, zeoþen, seþe, seeþ, seeth, seþ, seeþe

Etymology

From Old English sēoþan, from Proto-Germanic *seuþaną; a cognate of Middle Low German sēden, Middle Dutch sieden, Middle High German sieden, and Old Swedish siūþa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseːðən/

Verb

sethen

1. To boil or seethe; to heat a fluid:
   1. To boil food or meat as to cook or prepare it.
   2. To boil down or off; to reduce by boiling something.
   3. To boil something into an essence; to boil as a form of processing.
   4. To inflict punishment or injury by boiling (typically used of Hell)
2. To cook or heat (especially used of processing ceramics or ingredients)
3. To break down or process one's consumed food using stomach acid; to digest.
4. (rare, figurative) To make pure; to revitalise.

Usage notes

While the past singular forms in seth- and present forms in seth- were spelt the same way, the past forms' vowel was /ɛː/ while the present forms had /eː/.

Conjugation

Conjugation of sethen (strong class 2)

infinitive	(to) sethen
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	sethe	seth, sith, sothe
2nd person singular	sethest	seth, sith, sothe, *sethest
3rd person singular	setheth, seþeþ, seeth, siþ	seth, sith, sothe
plural	sethen	sode(n), sothe(n)
subjunctive	present	past
singular	sethe	seth, sith, sothe
plural	sethen	sode(n), sothe(n)
imperative	present
singular	sethe
plural	setheþ, setheth
participle	present	past
	sethende, sethinge	(i)sode(n), (i)sothe(n)

Derived terms

• sether
• sethyng

Descendants

• English: seethe (sodden is from the former past participle)
• Scots: seth, seith, seethe (sodden is from the former past participle)

References

• “sẹ̄then (v.(1))”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-05.