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Origin and history of seek

seek(v.)

Middle English sēchen "go in search or quest of; strive for, try to attain," from Old English secan, seocan "search for; pursue, chase; long for, wish for, desire; look for, expect from," influenced by Old Norse soekja, both from Proto-Germanic *sokjanan (source also of Old Saxon sokian, Old Frisian seka, Middle Dutch soekan, Old High German suohhan, German suchen, Gothic sokjan).

This is reconstructed to be from PIE *sag-yo-, from root *sag- "to track down, seek out" (source also of Latin sagire "to perceive quickly or keenly," sagus "presaging, predicting," Old Irish saigim "seek"). The natural modern form of the Anglo-Saxon word, had it not been influenced by Norse, is in beseech. Related: Sought; seeking. 

By late Old English as "ask a question." Seek-sorrow (1580s) was an old term for "a self-tormentor, one who contrives to vex himself." Seek-no-further (or farther) as the name of a type of eating apple is by 1660s.

Entries linking to seek

beseech(v.)

c. 1200, bisecen "to entreat, beg urgently," from Old English besecan; see be- + seek. "In contrast to the simple vb., in which the northern seek has displaced the southern seech, in the compound beseech has become the standard form" [OED 2nd. ed. print, 1989]. Cognate with Old Frisian biseka "deny, dispute," Dutch bezoeken, Old High German bisuochan. German cognate besuchen is merely "to visit." Related: Besought (OED writes that beseeched is "now regarded as incorrect"); beseeching.

sought

past tense and past participle of seek, from Old English sohte. The adjective sought-after "searched-for, desired" is from 1881 (sought-for in same sense is from c. 1600).

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Trends of seek

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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hegemony
1560s, "preponderance, dominance, leadership," originally of predominance of one city state or another in Greek history; from Greek hēgemonia "leadership, a leading the way, a going first;" also "the authority or sovereignty of one city-state over a number of others," as Athens i
ransack
mid-13c., ransaken, "to plunder; to make a search, search thoroughly," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse rannsaka "to pillage," literally "search the house" (especially legally, for stolen goods), from rann "house," from Proto-Germanic *raznan (c.f. Gothic razn, Old En
sagacity
"state or character of being keenly perceptive; acuteness of mental discernment," c. 1500, from French sagacité, from Latin sagacitatem (nominative sagacitas) "keenness of perception, quality of being acute," from sagax (genitive sagacis) "of quick perception, acute," related to
research
or study (a matter) closely, search or examine with continued care," from French recercher, from Old French recercher "seek...out, search closely," from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + cercher "to seek for," from Latin circare...Sometimes 17c. also "to seek (a woman) in love or marriage." Related: Researched; researching....
inquire
1300, enqueren, anqueren, "to ask (a question), ask about, ask for (specific information); learn or find out by asking, seek...French enquérir) and directly from Medieval Latin inquerere, from in- "into" (from PIE root *en "in") + Latin quaerere "ask, seek..." (see query (v.)), in place of classical Latin inquirere "seek after, search for, examine, scrutinize."...
attempt
late 14c., "seek or try to do, make an effort to perform," from Old French atempter (14c.), earlier atenter "to try, attempt..., test" (Modern French attenter), from Latin attemptare "to try, make trial of; tamper with, seek to influence; attack, assail...
perquisite
"thing gained, profit," in classical Latin, "thing sought after," noun use of neuter past participle of perquirere "to seek..., ask for," from per "thoroughly" (see per) + quærere "to seek" (see query (v.))....
search
c. 1300, serchen, "go through and examine carefully and in detail" (transitive), from Old French cerchier "to search" (12c., Modern French chercher), from Latin circare "go about, wander, traverse," in Late Latin "to wander hither and thither, go round, explore," from circus "cir
chaser
c. 1300, "horse trained for chasing," agent noun from chase (v.), probably in some cases from Old French chaceor "huntsman, hunter." The meaning "water or mild beverage taken after a strong drink" is by 1894, U.S. colloquial. French had chasse (from chasser "to chase") "a drink o
motion
late 14c., mocioun, "process of moving; change of place, continuous variation of position;" also "suggestion, proposal or proposition formally made," from Old French mocion "movement, motion; change, alteration" (13c., Modern French motion) and directly from Latin motionem (nomin

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