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seize

verb
/siːz/

Etymology

Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną, *sakōną (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *sakaną (compare Old Saxon sakan (“to accuse”), Old High German sahhan (“to bicker, quarrel, rebuke”), Old English sacan (“to quarrel, claim by law, accuse”). Cognate to sake and Latin sāgiō (“to perceive acutely”).

  1. derived from *sakaną✻
  2. inherited from *sakjaną✻
  3. derived from *sakjan✻
  4. derived from sacio
  5. derived from seisir
  6. inherited from seisen

Definitions

  1. To deliberately take hold of

    To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.

  2. To take advantage of (an opportunity or circumstance).

  3. To take possession of (by force, law etc.).

    • to seize smuggled goods
    • to seize a ship after libeling
  4. ›+ 10 more definitions

    1. To have a sudden and powerful effect upon.

      • a panic seized the crowd
      • a fever seized him

    2. Alternative spelling of seise (“to vest ownership of an estate in land”).

    3. To bind, lash or make fast, with several turns of small rope, cord, or small line.

      • to seize two fish-hooks back to back
      • to seize or stop one rope on to another

    4. To fasten, fix.

    5. To lay hold in seizure, by hands or claws (+ on or upon).

      • to seize on the neck of a horse
      • The text which had seized upon his heart with such comfort and strength abode upon him for more than a year.

    6. To have a seizure.

      • Nearing what she thought was a climax, he started seizing and fell off her. Later, realizing he was dead, she became alarmed and dragged the body to his vehicle to make it look like he had died in his truck.

    7. To bind or lock in position immovably

      To bind or lock in position immovably; see also seize up.

      • Rust caused the engine to seize, never to run again.

    8. To submit for consideration to a deliberative body.

    9. (with of) To cause (an action or matter) to be or remain before (a certain judge or…

      (with of) To cause (an action or matter) to be or remain before (a certain judge or court).

      • This Court will remain seized of this matter.

    10. Of chocolate

      Of chocolate: to change suddenly from a fluid to an undesirably hard and gritty texture.

      • Chocolate seizes if a small amount of water (or watery liquid such as brandy) finds its way into the chocolate while it is melting. […] If chocolate seizes, it will look grainy and matte rather than glossy and smooth.

The neighborhood

Derived

antiseize, anti-seize, be seized of, be seized with, disseize, foreseize, reseize, seizable, seize on, seize out, seizer, seize the day, seize the initiative, seize the opportunity, seize up, seize-up, seize upon, seizor, unseize, unseized

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at seize. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01seize02deliberately03deliberation04reflection05reflected06bent07folded08folds09fold10embrace

A definitional loop anchored at seize. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at seize

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA