Etymology

saddle

sad·dle
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Today it means: A seat for a rider, typically made of leather and raised in the front and rear, placed on the back of a horse or other animal, and secured by a strap around the animal's body. Full definition →

Middle English sadel ← Old English sadol ← Proto-West Germanic *sadul
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saddle · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*sod-dʰlo-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sadulaz“saddle”
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sadul
  4. Old English · inherited fromsadol
  5. Middle English · inherited fromsadel
  6. English todaysaddle

From Middle English sadel, from Old English sadol, from Proto-West Germanic *sadul, from Proto-Germanic *sadulaz (“saddle”). Further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sod-dʰlo-, from *sed- (“to sit”) + *-dʰlom (a variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting instruments or tools)), though the Oxford English Dictionary says this “presents formal difficulties”. Cognates * Danish sadel * Dutch zadel * German Sattel * Icelandic söðull * Low German Sadel * Russian седло́ (sedló) * Saterland Frisian Soadel * Scots sadil * Swedish sadel * West Frisian seal

saddle · verb2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sadulōną“to saddle”
  2. Old English · inherited fromsadolian
  3. Middle English · inherited fromsadelen“to put a saddle on (an animal), to saddle”
  4. English todaysaddle

From Middle English sadelen (“to put a saddle on (an animal), to saddle”) [and other forms], from Old English sadolian, sadelian, sadilian (“to saddle”), from Proto-Germanic *sadulōną (“to saddle”), from *sadulaz (“a saddle”, noun) (see further at etymology 1) + *-ōną (suffix forming denominative verbs from nouns). Cognates * Middle Dutch sādelen (modern Dutch zadelen) * Middle Low German sādelen * Old Danish sathlæ (modern Danish sadle) * Old High German satalōn, satulōn (Middle High German satelen, sateln, German satteln) * Old Norse sǫðla * Old Swedish saþla (modern Swedish sadla)

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.