The story
- Old English · inherited fromforsēcan
- Middle English · inherited from*forseken
- English todayforseek
From Middle English *forseken (attested in forsoȝt), from Old English forsēcan, forsēċan (“to afflict, attack”). By surface analysis, for- + seek. Compare West Frisian fersykje (“to request, petition”), Dutch verzoeken (“to request, ask, petition”), German versuchen (“to attempt, try”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.