sei

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sei"

Languages (29)

Translingual • English

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Ambonese Malay • Basque • Bavarian • Corsican • East Central German • Fala • Finnish • Galician • German • Gothic • Icelandic • Italian • Japanese • Livonian • Low German • Manado Malay • Mandarin • Middle English • Mòcheno • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Swedish • Pennsylvania German • Portuguese • Scots • Sicilian • Zhuang

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Seri.

Symbol

sei

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Seri.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Seri terms

English

Etymology

From sei whale, from Norwegian seihval, seikval, from sei (“pollock”) + hval (“whale”). Doublet of saithe.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Homophone: say

Noun

sei (plural seis)

1. A sei whale.
   • 2005, Wayne Ledwell, Whales and Dolphins of Newfoundland and Labrador:

     Seis also feed by engulfing small schooling fish.

Anagrams

• -ies, -ise, -sie, EIS, EIs, ESI, I'se, ISE, ies, sie

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch zij, zijde (“side”), from Middle Dutch side, from Old Dutch sīda, from Proto-West Germanic *sīdā, from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ.

Noun

sei

1. side

References

• D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998), Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎^[2], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Basque

Basque numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: sei     Ordinal: seigarren     Multiplier: seikoitz     Distributive: seina     Collective: seikote     Fractional: seiren

Alternative forms

• xei (Gipuzkoan)

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Basque *sei (“six”), which, despite its similarity with Spanish seis, Portuguese seis, French six and Latin sex, is not a Romance borrowing. Often compared with Iberian śei (“six”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s̺ei̯/ [s̺ei̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ei̯
• Hyphenation: sei

Numeral

sei

1. six

Declension

Declension of sei (numeral V-stem)

		indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive		sei	seia	seiak	seiok
ergative		seik	seiak	seiek	seiok
dative		seiri	seiari	seiei	seioi
genitive		seiren	seiaren	seien	seion
comitative		seirekin	seiarekin	seiekin	seiokin
causative		seirengatik	seiarengatik	seiengatik	seiongatik
benefactive		seirentzat	seiarentzat	seientzat	seiontzat
instrumental		seiez	seiaz	seiez	seiotaz
inessive	anim.	seirengan	seiarengan	seiengan	seiongan
	inan.	seitan	seian	seietan	seiotan
locative	anim.	—	—	—	—
	inan.	seitako	seiko	seietako	seiotako
allative	anim.	seirengana	seiarengana	seiengana	seiongana
	inan.	seitara	seira	seietara	seiotara
terminative	anim.	seirenganaino	seiarenganaino	seienganaino	seionganaino
	inan.	seitaraino	seiraino	seietaraino	seiotaraino
directive	anim.	seirenganantz	seiarenganantz	seienganantz	seionganantz
	inan.	seitarantz	seirantz	seietarantz	seiotarantz
destinative	anim.	seirenganako	seiarenganako	seienganako	seionganako
	inan.	seitarako	seirako	seietarako	seiotarako
ablative	anim.	seirengandik	seiarengandik	seiengandik	seiongandik
	inan.	seitatik	seitik	seietatik	seiotatik
partitive		seirik	—	—	—
prolative		seitzat	—	—	—

Further reading

• “sei”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005
• “sei”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Bavarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sai̯/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /sæː/ (East Central Bavarian, Vienna)
• Rhymes: -ai̯

Etymology 1

From Middle High German sein, sīn, from Old High German sīn, from Proto-West Germanic *sīn, from Proto-Germanic *sīnaz (“his own, her own, its own, their own”) (a reflexive possessive), from genitive of Proto-Indo-European *swé with denominative suffix Proto-Indo-European *-nós, equivalent to the genitive form of *se-. Cognates include German sein, Yiddish זײַן (zayn), Dutch zijn, Old Norse sínn, Gothic 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (seins).

Determiner

sei

1. (possessive) his, its

Declension

Declension of sei

	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sei	sei	sei	seine
dative	seim	seiner	seim	seine
accusative	sein	sei	sei	seine

Derived terms

• seiner
• seinige

See also

Bavarian possessive pronouns

			attributive (nominative case)		independent
			singular	plural
singular	1st person		mei	meine	meins
	2nd person	informal	dei	deine	deins
		formal	Eahna	Eahnare	Eahnas
	3rd person	m, n	sei	seine	seins
		f	ihr	ihre	ihrs
plural	1st person		unsa	unsare	unsas
	2nd person		eia	eire	eias
	3rd person		eahna	eahnare	eahnas

Etymology 2

From Middle High German sein, sīn, from Old High German sīn (“to be”) (suppleted with Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”) and *beuną (“to be, exist, become”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be, exist”). Cognates include German sein, Dutch zijn, Alemannic German sii, Yiddish זין (zin).

Verb

sei (past woar, subjunctive war or warad, past participle gwen or gwesn)

1. to be

Conjugation

Conjugation of sei

infinitive	sei
past participle	gwen, gwesn
	present	past	subjunctive
1st person singular	bi, bin	woar, wår	war, warad
2nd person singular	bist	woarst, wårst	warst, waradst
3rd person singular	is, isch	woar, wår	war, warad
1st person plural	san, han	woarn, wårn	warn, waradn
2nd person plural	sads, hads	woarts, wårts	warts, warats
3rd person plural	san, han	woarn, wårn	warn, waradn
	imperative
singular	sei
plural	seits

Verb

sei

1. first-person singular imperative of sei

Corsican

Corsican cardinal numbers

<  5	6	7  >
Cardinal : sei

Etymology

From Latin sex, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs. Cognates include Italian sei and Spanish seis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsej/
• Hyphenation: sei

Numeral

sei

1. six

References

• “sei” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

East Central German

Etymology

Compare German sein.

Verb

sei

1. (Erzgebirgisch) to be

References

• Hendrik Heidler (11 June 2020), Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎^[3] (in German), 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 116

Fala

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *swoyos

Latin suus

Old Galician-Portuguese *sei

Fala sei

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese *sei, from Latin suus (“his, her, its”), from Proto-Indo-European *swoyos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsei̯/
• Rhymes: -ei̯
• Syllabification: sei

Determiner

sei m sg (feminine súa, masculine plural seis, feminine plural súas)

1. Third-person singular possessive determiner; his, her, its
   • 2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Theme I, Chapter 1: Lengua Española:

     A grandeda da lengua española é indiscotibli, i sei estudio, utilización defensa debin sel algo consostancial a nos, […]

     The greatness of the Spanish language is unquestionable, and its study, use and defense must be something consubstantial to us, […]

2. Third-person plural possessive determiner; their
   • 2000, Domingo Frades Gaspar, Vamus a falal: Notas pâ coñocel y platical en nosa fala, Editora regional da Extremadura, Theme I, Chapter 1: Lengua Española:

     En esta época en que otras lenguas de España son recuñucias por tos cumu uficiais en sei territoriu […]

     In this time when other languages of Spain are recognised by everyone as official in their territory […]

Pronoun

sei m sg (feminine súa, masculine plural seis, feminine plural súas)

1. Third-person singular possessive pronoun; his, hers, its
2. Third-person plural possessive pronoun; theirs

See also

Fala possessive determiners and pronouns

			possessee
			singular		plural
			masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
possessor	first person	singular	mei	miña	meis	miñas
		plural	nosu	nosa	nosus	nosas
	second person	singular	tei	túa, tu1	teis	túas, tus1
		plural	vosu	vosa	vosus	vosas
	third person		sei	súa, su1	seis	súas, sus1

¹ Determiner forms used in Lagarteiru before a noun.

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web), 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 256

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsei̯/, [ˈs̠e̞i̯]
• Rhymes: -ei
• Syllabification^(key): sei
• Hyphenation^(key): sei

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Norwegian sei (“saithe”), via use in the 1950s and '60s on frozen fish packages of Norwegian origin.

Noun

sei

1. (proscribed) synonym of seiti

Declension

Inflection of sei (Kotus type 18/maa, no gradation)
nominative		sei	seit
genitive		sein	seiden seitten
partitive		seitä	seitä
illative		seihin	seihin
		singular	plural
nominative		sei	seit
accusative	nom.	sei	seit
	gen.	sein
genitive		sein	seiden seitten
partitive		seitä	seitä
inessive		seissä	seissä
elative		seistä	seistä
illative		seihin	seihin
adessive		seillä	seillä
ablative		seiltä	seiltä
allative		seille	seille
essive		seinä	seinä
translative		seiksi	seiksi
abessive		seittä	seittä
instructive		—	sein
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of sei (Kotus type 18/maa, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative seini seini accusative nom. seini seini gen. seini genitive seini seideni seitteni partitive seitäni seitäni inessive seissäni seissäni elative seistäni seistäni illative seihini seihini adessive seilläni seilläni ablative seiltäni seiltäni allative seilleni seilleni essive seinäni seinäni translative seikseni seikseni abessive seittäni seittäni instructive — — comitative — seineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative seisi seisi accusative nom. seisi seisi gen. seisi genitive seisi seidesi seittesi partitive seitäsi seitäsi inessive seissäsi seissäsi elative seistäsi seistäsi illative seihisi seihisi adessive seilläsi seilläsi ablative seiltäsi seiltäsi allative seillesi seillesi essive seinäsi seinäsi translative seiksesi seiksesi abessive seittäsi seittäsi instructive — — comitative — seinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative seimme seimme accusative nom. seimme seimme gen. seimme genitive seimme seidemme seittemme partitive seitämme seitämme inessive seissämme seissämme elative seistämme seistämme illative seihimme seihimme adessive seillämme seillämme ablative seiltämme seiltämme allative seillemme seillemme essive seinämme seinämme translative seiksemme seiksemme abessive seittämme seittämme instructive — — comitative — seinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative seinne seinne accusative nom. seinne seinne gen. seinne genitive seinne seidenne seittenne partitive seitänne seitänne inessive seissänne seissänne elative seistänne seistänne illative seihinne seihinne adessive seillänne seillänne ablative seiltänne seiltänne allative seillenne seillenne essive seinänne seinänne translative seiksenne seiksenne abessive seittänne seittänne instructive — — comitative — seinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative seinsä seinsä accusative nom. seinsä seinsä gen. seinsä genitive seinsä seidensä seittensä partitive seitään seitänsä seitään seitänsä inessive seissään seissänsä seissään seissänsä elative seistään seistänsä seistään seistänsä illative seihinsä seihinsä adessive seillään seillänsä seillään seillänsä ablative seiltään seiltänsä seiltään seiltänsä allative seilleen seillensä seilleen seillensä essive seinään seinänsä seinään seinänsä translative seikseen seiksensä seikseen seiksensä abessive seittään seittänsä seittään seittänsä instructive — — comitative — seineen seinensä

Derived terms

• pakastesei

Further reading

• “sei”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[4] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

Etymology 2

Finnish numbers ^(edit)

	70[a], [b]
←  6	7	8  →
Cardinal: seitsemän     Colloquial counting form: see, sei     Ordinal: seitsemäs     Colloquial ordinal: seikki (regional), seiska     Ordinal abbreviation: 7., 7:s     Digit name: seiska (informal), seitsikko, seitsemäinen     Adverbial: seitsemästi     Multiplier: seitsenkertainen     Fractional: seitsemäsosa, seitsemännes
Finnish Wikipedia article on 7

From the initial syllable of seitsemän.

Numeral

sei (colloquial)

1. (counting) seven

Anagrams

• eis, esi-, ies, sie

Galician

Verb

sei

1. first-person singular present indicative of saber

German

Pronunciation

• (prescriptive standard) IPA^(key): /zaɪ̯/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• (Austria) IPA^(key): /saɛ̯/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯

Verb

sei

1. first-person singular subjunctive I of sein
   • 1788: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont (English translation)

     Meinst du, ich sei ein Kind, oder wahnsinnig?

     Thinkest thou I am a child, or frantic?

2. third-person singular subjunctive I of sein
   • 1788, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont:

     Er sieht oft aus, als wenn er in der völligen Überzeugung lebe, er sei Herr, und wolle es uns nur aus Gefälligkeit nicht fühlen lassen, [...]

     He carries himself as if he felt he were the master here, and were withheld by courtesy alone from making us feel his supremacy; [...]

3. singular imperative of sein
   • 1788, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Egmont:

     Geh deines Pfads, und sei ruhig.

     Go your way and be quiet.

Gothic

Romanization

sei

1. romanization of 𐍃𐌴𐌹

Icelandic

Adverb

sei

1. only used in sei sei

Italian

Italian numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: sei     Ordinal: sesto     Ordinal abbreviation: 6º     Adverbial: sei volte     Multiplier: sestuplo     Collective: tutti e sei     Fractional: sesto
Italian Wikipedia article on 6

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛj/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛj
• Hyphenation: sèi

Etymology 1

From Latin sex, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

Numeral

sei (invariable)

1. six

Noun

sei m (invariable)

1. six

Related terms

• a sei zeri
• sei giorni
• seicentesco
• seicento, Seicento
• seienne
• seimila
• senario
• sestante
• sestetto
• sestina
• sesto

See also

Playing cards in Italian · carte da gioco (layout · text)
asso	due	tre	quattro	cinque	sei	sette
otto	nove	dieci	fante	donna, regina	re	jolly, joker, matta

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “It said here: From Latin "es". This obviously can't be true, except possibly for the -ei portion.”)

Verb

sei

1. second-person singular present indicative of essere

Japanese

Romanization

sei

1. Rōmaji transcription of せい

Livonian

Verb

sei

1. first/third-person singular past indicative of sīedõ

Low German

Alternative forms

• (more common in the western dialects, though still found in Mecklenburgisch, Western Pomeranian and Low Prussian alongside sei) se

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɛɪ̯/, /zaɪ̯/

Pronoun

sei

1. (in some dialects, including, Mecklenburgisch, Western Pomeranian and Low Prussian, personal) alternative form of se (she - third person singular feminine pronoun)

   (Low Prussian) Sei ös Anke.

   She is Anke (Annie).

Pronoun

sei

1. (in some dialects, including, Mecklenburgisch, Western Pomeranian and Low Prussian, personal) alternative form of se (they - third person plural pronoun)

Manado Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch zij, zijde (“side”), from Middle Dutch side, from Old Dutch sīda, from Proto-West Germanic *sīdā, from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ.

Noun

sei

1. side

References

• Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara (2021), Kamus Dwibahasa Melayu Manado-Indonesia (in Indonesian), Manado: Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara

Mandarin

Romanization

sei

1. nonstandard spelling of sēi

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English sǣ.

Noun

sei

1. alternative form of see (“sea”)

Descendants

• English: sea

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German si(e) (“they”), merged from Old High German sie m pl, sio f pl, siu n pl, from Proto-Germanic *īz m, *ijôz f, *ijō n, the nominative plural forms of *iz. Cognate with German sie, Dutch zij.

Pronoun

sei

1. they

Inflection

Personal pronouns

	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	ir
3rd person	er, si, s	sei

References

• “sei” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse seiðr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæj/
• Rhymes: -æj

Noun

sei m (definite singular seien, indefinite plural seier, definite plural seiene)

1. pollock (Pollachius virens)

Descendants

• Danish: sej

References

• “sei” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛɪː/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse seiðr.

Noun

sei m (definite singular seien, indefinite plural seiar, definite plural seiane)

1. pollock (Pollachius virens)

Hyponyms

• dassmort

Derived terms

• seikval

Etymology 2

Verb

sei

1. imperative of seia

References

• “sei” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Swedish

Verb

sei

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of vara
2. second-person singular present active subjunctive of vara
3. third-person singular present active subjunctive of vara

Pennsylvania German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪ̯/

Etymology 1

Compare German sein, Dutch zijn.

Determiner

sei

1. (possessive) his
2. (possessive) its

Declension

Declension of sei

	singular				plural
	m	f	n
nominative	sei	sei	sei		sei
dative	seim	seinre	seim		seine
accusative	sei	sei	sei		sei

Etymology 2

Compare German sein, Dutch zijn.

Verb

sei

1. to be

Usage notes

• Also used as the less common auxiliary verb to form the past tense along with the past participle.

Conjugation

Conjugation of sei

infinitive	sei
past participle	iss gewest
future tense	waerd sei
	subjunctive
1st person singular	waer
2nd person singular	waerscht
3rd person singular	waer
1st person  plural	waere
2nd person plural	waeret
3rd person plural	waere
	present tense
1st person singular	bin
2nd person singular	bischt
3rd person singular	iss
1st person  plural	sin
2nd person plural	seid
3rd person plural	sin
imperative	sei

References

• Earl C. Haag, Pennsylvania German Reader and Grammar (2010)

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• sey (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsej/ [ˈseɪ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsɐj/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsɐj/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsej/
  • (Central Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsej/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈse/

• Audio (Brazil (São Paulo)):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ej, (Portugal) -ɐj
• Hyphenation: sei

Verb

sei

1. first-person singular present indicative of saber
   • 2005, J. K. Rowling, translated by Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince] (Harry Potter; 6), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 375:

     Confiem em mim. Sei o que estou fazendo...

     Trust me. I know what I'm doing...

Interjection

sei

1. (Brazil, sarcastic) yeah, right (sarcastic expression of disbelief)

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsəi̯]

Verb

sei (third-person singular simple present seis, present participle seiin, simple past saw, past participle seen)

1. Southern Scots form of see

   Div ee sei yon hoose ower there? ― Did you see your house over there?

Sicilian

Sicilian cardinal numbers

<  5	6	7  >
Cardinal : sei     Ordinal : sestu

Etymology

From Latin sex.

Numeral

sei

1. six

Zhuang

Etymology

From Chinese 詩 (MC syi).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /θei˨˦/
• Tone numbers: sei¹
• Hyphenation: sei

Noun

sei (1957–1982 spelling sei)

1. poetry, poem