Etymology

sue

S1U1E1

Today it means: To file a legal action against someone, generally a non-criminal (civil) action. Full definition →

Middle English seuen ← Anglo-Norman suer ← Old French sivre
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sue · verb1

  1. Latin · derived fromsequi
  2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*sequere“to follow”
  3. Old French · derived fromsivre“to follow after”
  4. Anglo-Norman · derived fromsuer
  5. Middle English · inherited fromseuen
  6. English todaysue

From Middle English seuen, sewen, siwen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suer, siwer et al. and Old French sivre (“to follow after”) (modern French suivre), from Vulgar Latin *sequere (“to follow”), from Latin sequi. Cognate with Italian seguire and Spanish seguir. Doublet of segue. Related to suit.

Sue · proper noun, noun2

Clipping.

Words from the same roots

Latinsequi all →

sect

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.