# seize
## English
### Etymology

Earlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną, *sakōną (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *sakaną (compare Old Saxon sakan (“to accuse”), Old High German sahhan (“to bicker, quarrel, rebuke”), Old English sacan (“to quarrel, claim by law, accuse”). Cognate to sake and Latin sāgiō (“to perceive acutely”).

### Pronunciation

* enPR: sēz, IPA: /siːz/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -iːz
* Homophones: seas, sees

### Verb

seize (third-person singular simple present seizes, present participle seizing, simple past and past participle seized)
* (transitive) To deliberately take hold of; to grab or capture.
    Synonyms: clasp, grasp, grip; see also Thesaurus:grasp
* (transitive) To take advantage of (an opportunity or circumstance).
    Synonym: jump on
* (transitive) To take possession of (by force, law etc.).
    Synonyms: arrogate, commandeer, confiscate
    to seize smuggled goods
    to seize a ship after libeling
* (transitive) To have a sudden and powerful effect upon.
    a panic seized the crowd
    a fever seized him
** 2010, Antonio Saggio, A Secret van Gogh: His Motif and Motives, →ISBN, page 11:This sensation of an object becoming alive is a characteristic that, I believe, seizes all viewers of a van Gogh. The Bible goes beyond being a simple still-life object to become a living thing, an expression of strength, an existence that emanates from itself, beyond the painting surface to participate in our very lives.
* (transitive, law) Alternative spelling of seise (“to vest ownership of an estate in land”).
* (transitive, nautical) To bind, lash or make fast, with several turns of small rope, cord, or small line.
    to seize two fish-hooks back to back
    to seize or stop one rope on to another
* (transitive, obsolete) To fasten, fix.
* (intransitive) To lay hold in seizure, by hands or claws (+ on or upon).
    to seize on the neck of a horse
** 1830, Robert Southey, Bunyan, page 21:The text which had seized upon his heart with such comfort and strength abode upon him for more than a year.
* (intransitive) To have a seizure.
** 2012, Daniel M. Avery, Tales of a Country Obstetrician:Nearing what she thought was a climax, he started seizing and fell off her. Later, realizing he was dead, she became alarmed and dragged the body to his vehicle to make it look like he had died in his truck.
* (intransitive) To bind or lock in position immovably; see also seize up.
    Rust caused the engine to seize, never to run again.
* (UK, intransitive) To submit for consideration to a deliberative body.
* (law) (with of) To cause (an action or matter) to be or remain before (a certain judge or court).
    This Court will remain seized of this matter.
* (transitive, intransitive, cooking) Of chocolate: to change suddenly from a fluid to an undesirably hard and gritty texture.
** 2012, Martha Holmberg, Modern Sauces: More Than 150 Recipes for Every Cook, Every Day, page 235:Chocolate seizes if a small amount of water (or watery liquid such as brandy) finds its way into the chocolate while it is melting. […] If chocolate seizes, it will look grainy and matte rather than glossy and smooth.

#### Derived terms

* anti-seize
* be seized of
* be seized with
* seizable
* seize on
* seize out
* seizer
* seize the day
* seize the initiative
* seize up
* seize upon
* seizor

#### Related terms

* seizure

#### Translations

Arabic: إِسْتَوْلَى عَلَى (ʔistawlā ʕalā)
Armenian: գրավել (hy) (gravel)
Bengali: ধরা (bn) (dhora)
Bulgarian: хващам (bg) (hvaštam)
Burmese: ဖမ်း (my) (hpam:)
Catalan:
Chinese:
Mandarin: 抓獲 / 抓获 (zh) (zhuāhuò), 攫取 (zh) (juéqǔ), 捕獲 / 捕获 (zh) (bǔhuò)
Czech: popadnout pf, uchvátit pf, lapit (cs) pf
Danish: gribe
Dutch: grijpen (nl), vangen (nl), pakken (nl)
Egyptian: (jṯj)
Esperanto: kapti (eo)
Finnish: tarttua (fi), käydä käsiksi
French: saisir (fr), se saisir de (fr)
Galician: agarrar (gl), apreixar
German: ergreifen (de), fassen (de), greifen (de)
Gothic: 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌽 (greipan), 𐌳𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (dissitan)
Greek:
Ancient: ἁρπάζω (harpázō), συλλαμβάνω (sullambánō)
Hungarian: megfog (hu), megragad (hu)
Icelandic: grípa (is)
Italian: prendere (it), afferrare (it)
Japanese: 捉える (ja) (とらえる, toraeru), つかむ (ja) (tsukamu)
Korean: 붙잡다 (ko) (butjapda)
Latin: capiō (la), possideō, prehendō
Macedonian: згра́пчи (zgrápči)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: авалаш (avalaš), авалташ (avaltaš)
Mirandese: agarrar
Ngazidja Comorian: uzingara, usiha
North Frisian: gripe
Norwegian: gripe
Old English: niman
Old Portuguese: tomar
Ottoman Turkish: استولی علی (istevli ele), پنچه‌لمك (pençelemek)
Plautdietsch: faustnämen, jriepen
Polish: chwycić (pl) pf, złapać (pl), chwytać (pl) impf, łapać (pl) impf
Portuguese: agarrar (pt), capturar (pt), apanhar (pt)
Romagnol: abranchêr, branchêr
Russian: захва́тывать (ru) impf (zaxvátyvatʹ), захвати́ть (ru) pf (zaxvatítʹ), схва́тывать (ru) impf (sxvátyvatʹ), схвати́ть (ru) pf (sxvatítʹ)
Sanskrit: घिण्णते (sa) (ghiṇṇate)
Shan: ယွပ်း (shn) (yáup)
Spanish: agarrar (es), apoderarse de, apresar (es), aferrar (es)
Swedish: gripa (sv), fånga (sv), tillskansa (sv)
Thai: คว้า (th) (kwáa)
Tocharian B: eṅk-
Turkish: kapmak (tr)
Volapük: gleipön (vo)
Walloon: apicî (wa) :

### References

* ↑ C.T. Onions, ed., Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, s.v. "seize" (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 807.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “seize”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “seize”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French seze, from Old French seize, seze, from Latin sēdecim.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛz/
* Audio (France):(file)
* (Quebec) IPA: [saiz]
* Audio (Quebec):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛz

### Numeral

seize (invariable)
* sixteen

#### Derived terms

* seizième

#### Related terms

* six
* dix

#### Descendants

* Haitian Creole: sèz
* Louisiana Creole: sèz

### Further reading

* “seize”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Norman
### Etymology

Inherited from Old French seize, from Latin sēdecim.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (Jersey):(file)

### Numeral

seize
* (Jersey, Guernsey) sixteen