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1828.mshaffer.com › Word [seek]
SEEK, v.t. pret and pp. sought, pronounced sawt. [L. sequor, to follow; for to seek is to go after, and the primary sense is to advance, to press, to drive forward, as in the L. peto.] 1. To go in searh or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place. The man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethen. Gen. 37. 2. To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any means. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. Ps. 104. He found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Heb. 12
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Evolution (or devolution) of this word [seek]
1828 Webster | 1844 Webster | 1913 Webster |
SEEK, v.t. pret and pp. sought, pronounced sawt. [L. sequor, to follow; for to seek is to go after, and the primary sense is to advance, to press, to drive forward, as in the L. peto.] 1. To go in searh or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place. The man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethen. Gen. 37. 2. To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any means. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. Ps. 104. He found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Heb. 12 | SEEK, v.i.- To make search or inquiry; to endeavor to make discovery.
Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read. – Is. xxxiv.
- To endeavor.
Ask not what pains, nor further seek to know / Their process, or the forms of law below. – Dryden.
To seek after, to make pursuit; to attempt to find or take. [See No. 3, supra.]
To seek for, to endeavor to find. – Knolles.
To seek to, to apply to; to resort to. – 1 Kings x.
To seek, at a loss; without knowledge, measures or experience.
Unpractic'd, unprepar'd and still to seek. – Milton.
[This phrase, I believe, is wholly obsolete.]
SEEK, v.t. [pret. and pp. sought, pronounced sawt; Sax. secan, sæcan, to seek, to come to; asecan, to require; gesecan, to seek, to come to; forsacan, forsæcan, to forsake; G. suchen, to seek; absuchen, to pick off; besuchen, to visit, to see; gesuch, suit, petition; gesuche, a continued seeking; versuchen, to try, prove, tempt, essay, strive; versuch, trial, essay; D. zoeken, to seek, to look for, to try or endeavor; bezoeken, to visit, to try; gezoek, a seeking; opzoeken, to seek; verzoeken, to request, desire, invite, try, tempt, to visit; Dan. söger, to seek, to endeavor; besöger, to visit; forsöger, to try, to essay, to experiment, to tempt; opsöger, to seek or search after; Sw. söka, to seek, to sue, to court; söka en lagligen, to sue one at law; besöka, to visit; försöka, to try, to essay, to tempt. The words all accord with L. sequor, Ir. seichim, to follow; for to seek is to go after, and the primary sense is to advance, to press, to drive forward, as in the L. peto. See Essay, from the same, root, through the Italian and French. Now in Sax. forsacan, forsæcan, is to forsake; sacan is to strive, contend, whence English sake, and sæcan, secan, is to seek. But in Swedish, försaka, to forsake, to renounce, is from sak, thing, cause, suit, Sax. saca, English sake; in Danish, forsager, to renounce, is from siger, to say; sag, a thing, cause, matter, suit; sagd; a saying; G. versagen, to deny, to renounce, from sagen, to say, to tell; D. verzaaken, to deny, to forsake, to revoke, from zaak, thing, cause, and zeggen is to say or tell, which is the Sax. secgan, to say. These close affinities prove that seek, essay, say, and L. sequor, are all from one radix; coinciding with Ch. עסק, to seek, to strive. Class Sg, No. 46, and see No. 30, Ar. The English verb see seems to be from the same root.]- To go in search or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place.
The man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren. – Gen. xxxvii.
- To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any means.
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. – Ps. civ.
He found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. – Heb. xii.
Others tempting him, sought of him a sign. – Luke xi.
- Seek is followed sometimes by out or after. To seek out, properly implies to look for a specific thing among a number. But in general, the use of out and after with seek, is unnecessary and inelegant.
To seek God, his name, or his face, in Scripture, to ask for his favor, direction and assistance. – Ps. lxiii. lxxxiii.
God seeks men, when he fixes his love on them, and by his word and Spirit, and the righteousness of Christ, reclaims and recovers them from their miserable condition as sinners. – Ezek. xxxiv. Ps. cxix. Luke xv.
To seek after the life, or soul, or to attempt by arts or machinations; or to attempt to destroy or ruin. – Ps. xxxv.
To seek peace, or judgment, to endeavor to promote it; or to practice it. – Ps. xxxiv. Is. i.
To seek an altar, temple, or habitation, to frequent it; to resort to it often. – 2 Chron. i. Amos v.
To seek out God's works, to endeavor to understand them. – Ps. cxi.
| Seek
- Sick.
- To go in search of; to look for;
to search for; to try to find.
- To make search or
inquiry; to endeavor to make discovery.
- To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to
beseech.
- To try to acquire or gain; to strive after;
to aim at; as, to seek wealth or fame; to seek one's
life.
- To try to reach or come to; to go to; to
resort to.
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Seek SEEK, verb transitive pret and participle passive sought, pronounced sawt. [L. sequor, to follow; for to seek is to go after, and the primary sense is to advance, to press, to drive forward, as in the L. peto.] 1. To go in searh or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place. The man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethen. Genesis 37:16. 2. To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any means. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. Psalms 104:21. He found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Hebrews 12:1 Others tempting him, sought of him a sign. Luke 11:9. 3.Seek is followed sometimes by out or after. To seek out, properly implies to look for a specific thing among a number. But in general, the use of out and after with seek, is unnecessary and inelegant. To seek God, his name, or his face, in Scripture, to ask for his favor, direction and assistance. Psalms 83:16. God seeks men, when he fixes his love on them, and by his word and Spirit, and the righteousness of Christ, reclaims and recovers them from their miserable condition as sinners. Ezekiel 34:6. Psa 119. Luke 15:8. To seek after the life, or soul, to attempt by arts or machinations; or to attempt to destroy or ruin. Psa 35. To seek peace, or judgement, to endeavor to promote it; or to practice it. Psa 34. Isaiah 1:17. To seek an altar, temple, or habitation, to frequent it; to restore to it often. 2 Chronicles 1:1. Amos 5:4. To seek out God's works, to endeavor to understand them. Psa 111. SEEK, v. i. 1. To make search or inquiry; to endeavor to make discovery. Seek ye out of the book of the Lord. Isaiah 34:16. 2. To endeavor. Ask not what pains, nor further seek to know Their process, or the forms of law below. Dryden. To seek after, to make pursuit; to attempt to find or take. [See No. 3 supra.] To seek for, to endeavor to find. Knolles. To seek to, to apply to; to resort to. 1 Kings 10:1. To seek, at a loss; without knowledge, measures or experience. Unpractic'd, unprepar'd and still to seek. Milton. [This phrase, I believe, is wholly obsolete.]
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* As a note, I have purchased each of these products. In fact, as we have been developing the Project:: 1828 Reprint, I have purchased several of the bulky hard-cover dictionaries. My opinion is that the 2000-page hard-cover edition is the only good viable solution at this time. The compact edition was a bit disappointing and the CD-ROM as well. |
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