sele

S1E1L1E1
/siːl/

noun

Happiness, fortune.

OriginMiddle English sel ← Old English sǣl ← Proto-West Germanic *sālī →
UncommonScrabble 4
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Meanings

nounsele (countable and uncountable, plural seles)

plural seles

  1. countabledialectalobsoleteuncountableHappiness, fortune.
  2. UKcountabledialectalobsoleteuncountableThe right time or occasion for something, an opportune moment, season
  3. countableuncountableGreeting, salutation.

    I found my friend honest Pritchard smoking his morning pipe at the front door, and after giving him the sele of the day, […]

    1862, George Borrow, chapter XXXV, in Wild Wales Its People‚ Language and Scenery (Fiction), Read Central, archived from the original on 31 Oct 2013
    1 more example

    When the morning was come […] so she arose and thrust her grief back into her heart, and gave her fellow-farer the sele of the day, […]

    1897, William Morris, chapter XIV, in The Water of the Wondrous Isles (Fantasy), published 2005, page 245

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*sēliz
  2. Proto-West Germanic*sālī
  3. Old Englishsǣl
  4. Middle Englishsel
  5. Englishsele

Inherited from Middle English sel (“fortune, bliss; a unit of time”), from Old English sǣl (“time, occasion, an opportune time, opportunity, happiness, prosperity, good times”), from Proto-West Germanic *sālī, from Proto-Germanic *sēliz. Related to silly.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with sele

realmobilefeeldealsteelappealwheelsealmealNeilrevealreelstealheelpeelhealnealsteelerepealtealsurrealcelalleleLille
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

seal

Anagrams

elseleessleeseel
Cite this entry
APA

sele. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sele

MLA

“sele.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sele. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sele,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sele.

Source: sele on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.