see

see

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of see in English

English Online Dictionary. What means see‎? What does see mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, Canada) enPR: sē, IPA(key): /ˈsiː/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsi/
  • Homophones: C, cee, sea, Seay, si
  • Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

From Middle English seen, from Old English sēon (“to see, look, behold, perceive, observe, discern, understand, know”), from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”).

Verb

see (third-person singular simple present sees, present participle seeing, simple past saw or (dialectal) seen or (dialectal) seent or (dialectal) seed, past participle seen or (dialectal) seent or (dialectal) seed or (dialectal) saw)

  1. (transitive) To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight.
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      I want to see this house!
    1. To witness or observe by personal experience.
      Hyponyms: experience, suffer
    2. To watch (a movie) at a cinema, or a show on television etc.
  2. To form a mental picture of.
    1. (figuratively) To understand.
    2. To come to a realization of having been mistaken or misled.
    3. (transitive) To foresee, predict, or prophesy.
    4. (used in the imperative) Used to emphasise a proposition.
  3. (social) To meet, to visit.
    1. To have an interview with; especially, to make a call upon; to visit.
    2. To date frequently.
    3. To visit for a medical appointment.
  4. (ergative) To be the setting or time of.
  5. (by extension) Chiefly followed by that: to ensure that something happens, especially by personally witnessing it.
  6. (transitive) To wait upon; attend, escort.
  7. (gambling, transitive) To respond to another player's bet with a bet of equal value.
  8. To determine by trial or experiment; to find out (if or whether).
  9. (used in the imperative) To reference or to study for further details.
  10. To examine something closely, or to utilize something, often as a temporary alternative.
  11. To include as one of something's experiences.
Conjugation
Synonyms
  • (perceive with the eyes): behold, descry, espy, observe, view
  • (understand): follow, get, understand
  • (date frequently): go out; see also Thesaurus:date
Derived terms
Translations

Interjection

see

  1. Introducing an explanation
    Synonyms: look, well, so
Translations

See also

  • look
  • sight
  • watch

Etymology 2

From Middle English se, see, from Old French sie (“seat, throne; town, capital; episcopal see”), from Latin sedes (“seat”), referring to the bishop's throne or chair (compare seat of power) in the cathedral; related to the Latin verb sedere (“to sit”).

Noun

see (plural sees)

  1. A diocese, archdiocese; a region of a church, generally headed by a bishop or an archbishop.
    Hyponyms: bishopric, archbishopric
  2. The office of a bishop or archbishop.
    Hyponyms: bishopric, archbishopric
  3. A seat; a site; a place where sovereign power is exercised.
Derived terms
  • Holy See
Related terms
Translations

See also

  • cathedra
  • cathedral
  • chair
  • throne

Etymology 3

Noun

see (plural sees)

  1. Alternative form of cee; the name of the Latin-script letter C/c.
Derived terms
  • seetee

Further reading

  • see on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

  • -ese, ESE, Ese, ees, ese

Afrikaans

Alternative forms

  • sé (obsolete)

Etymology

From Dutch zee, from Middle Dutch sêe, from Old Dutch sēo, from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɪə/, /zɪə/

Noun

see (plural seë)

  1. sea

Derived terms

  • seekoei
  • seesout
  • seevis
  • seevoël
  • seewater

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se, ultimately from Proto-Uralic *śe. cognate to Finnish se, Votic se, Erzya се (śe, “this, that”), Northern Khanty си (si, “that over yonder; now, then”), and Nganasan [script needed] (sete, “he, she”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈseː/, [ˈseː]

Pronoun

see (genitive selle, partitive seda)

  1. this
  2. that
  3. it
  4. (colloquial, somewhat rude) he, she (usually only used when said person is not present)

Usage notes

In Northern Estonia, and in the standard language, see is both the proximal ("this") and distal ("that") determiner. In Southern Estonia, too is used as the distal determiner.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

  • too

Finnish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈseː/, [ˈs̠e̞ː]
  • Rhymes: -eː
  • Hyphenation(key): see

Etymology 1

Compare Swedish ce, English cee, both ultimately from Latin cē with the c sound changed from a /k/ to a /s/ as is a common change in languages using the Latin alphabet.

Alternative forms

  • cee

Noun

see

  1. cee (The name of the Latin-script letter C/c)
Usage notes
  • Speakers often use the corresponding forms of c-kirjain (“letter C, letter c”) instead of inflecting this word, especially in plural. The plural forms may get confused with sei (“saithe”).
Declension
Synonyms
  • c-kirjain

Etymology 2

< seitsemän

Numeral

see (colloquial)

  1. (counting) seven

See also

  • seitsemän (“seven”)

Etymology 3

Compare Estonian see.

Pronoun

see (dialectal, rare)

  1. (Southwest Finnish) Alternative form of se.

Anagrams

  • ees

Friulian

Alternative forms

  • siee

Etymology

From the verb seâ. Compare Italian sega, Venetan siega, French scie.

Noun

see f (plural seis)

  1. saw

Ingrian

Pronunciation

  • (Ala-Laukaa) IPA(key): /ˈseː/, [ˈs̠eː]
  • (Soikkola) IPA(key): /ˈseː/, [ˈʃe̝ː]
  • Rhymes: -eː
  • Hyphenation: see

Pronoun

see

  1. (dialectal) Alternative form of se

Determiner

see

  1. (dialectal) Alternative form of se

References

  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 514

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch sēo, from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz.

Noun

sêe f or m

  1. sea

Inflection

Descendants

  • Dutch: zee f
    • Afrikaans: see
    • Berbice Creole Dutch: sei
    • Javindo: see
    • Negerhollands: see
    • → Saramaccan: zé
    • → Sranan Tongo: se
  • Limburgish: zieë f
  • West Flemish: zji m or f, zêe

Further reading

  • “see”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “see (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English sǣ, from Proto-West Germanic *saiwi, from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz.

Alternative forms

  • ce, sæ, se, sea, sei, ze

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɛː/, /seː/
  • Rhymes: -ɛː

Noun

see (plural sees)

  1. sea, ocean
  2. A body of water, a lake
Related terms
  • Rede See
  • seeman
Descendants
  • English: sea
  • Scots: se, see, sey, seye, sie
  • Yola: zea, zee
References
  • “sē, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-09.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old French sei, from Latin sedes.

Alternative forms

  • ce, cee, se

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /seː/
  • Rhymes: -eː

Noun

see (plural sees)

  1. seat, chair
  2. dwelling, residence
  3. A royal or episcopal chair
  4. A royal or episcopal polity or realm
  5. A royal or episcopal residence
  6. (Christianity) The Kingdom of Heaven.
Descendants
  • English: see
References
  • “sē, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-09.

North Frisian

Etymology 1

From Old Frisian sē, from Proto-West Germanic *saiwi. Cognates include Dutch zee.

Noun

see f

  1. (Heligoland) sea

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German See m (“lake”), ultimately the same word as above. See sia for more.

Noun

see m (plural seen)

  1. Alternative form of sia m (“lake”)

Scots

Alternative forms

  • sie, sey, sei

Etymology

From Middle English seen, from Old English sēon, from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan. Cognate with English see.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈsi]
  • (Coast Scots) IPA(key): [ˈsəi̯]

Verb

see (third-person singular simple present sees, present participle seein, simple past saw, seed, past participle seen)

  1. to see

References

Tetum

Verb

see

  1. to turn, to present

Votic

Alternative forms

  • se

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *se, from Proto-Uralic *śe.

Pronunciation

  • (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA(key): /ˈseː/, [ˈseː]
  • Rhymes: -eː
  • Hyphenation: see
    • (rapid speech) IPA(key): [ˈse]

Pronoun

see

  1. (demonstrative) that
  2. (demonstrative) ít

Inflection

See also

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian sē, from Proto-West Germanic *saiwi.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /seː/

Noun

see c (plural seeën, diminutive seeke)

  1. sea

Derived terms

  • seehûn
  • seeko
  • seerôver

Further reading

  • “see”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

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