seel

Meanings

Adjective

• Good; fortunate; opportune; happy.

Noun

• Good fortune; happiness; bliss.
• Opportunity; time; season.

Verb

• To sew together the eyes of a young hawk.
• To blind.
• To roll on the waves in a storm.

Origin

• From Middle English sel, sele, from Old English *sǣle (attested in Old English unsǣle), from Proto-Germanic *sēliz, from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *sēl-. Cognate with Danish sæl, Swedish säll, Icelandic sæll, Gothic 𐍃𐌴𐌻𐍃, Latin sōlor.
• From Middle English sele, sel, from Old English sǣl ("time, occasion, a fit time, season, opportunity, the definite time at which an event should take place, time as in bad or good times, circumstances, condition, position, happiness, joy, good fortune, good time, prosperity"), from Proto-Germanic *sēliz ("luck, joy"), from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *sēl-. Cognate with Icelandic sæla ("bliss"), Dutch zalig ("blissful, blessed"). More at silly.
• From Middle English silen, from Old French siller, ciller, from cil, from Latin cilium.
• Ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *sīgan. Compare Low German sielen ("to lead off water"), French siller ("to run ahead, to make headway"), and English sile (transitive verb).