seen

• enPR: sēn, IPA^(key): /siːn/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (UK, dialectal) enPR: sĭn, IPA^(key): /sɪn/
• Homophones: scene, sin (UK, dialectal)
• Rhymes: -iːn, -ɪn (UK, dialectal)

Morphologically see +‎ -n.

seen

1. past participle of see

   Justice must be seen to be done.

2. (nonstandard, dialectal) simple past of see; saw.

   I seen it with my own eyes.

   • 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 156:

     "Tut, tut, Sir Benjimen," said Bill, "stir up your memory, sir; cast your eye over them felons in the dock, and tell the Court how you seen them steal the bag."

3. (Jamaica) Understood; comprehended.

   Everything irie, seen?

• unseen

• → Persian: سین (sin)

Borrowed from Arabic سِين (sīn).

seen (plural seens)

1. The letter س in the Arabic script.

• sene, Sene, snee, eens, esne, Nees

From Middle High German sagen, from Old High German sagen.

seen

1. (Issime) to say

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

From Proto-Finnic *seeni. Cognate of Finnish sieni and Latvian sẽne.

seen (genitive seene, partitive seent)

1. mushroom
2. fungus

seen

1. genitive singular of see

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈseːn/, [ˈs̠eːn]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈseːn/, [ˈʃe̝ːn]
• Rhymes: -eːn
• Hyphenation: seen

seen

1. alternative form of seeni

seen

1. second-person singular imperative of seenen

• se, sein, sen, sien
• seo, seon, soe, son, suen (chiefly early West Midland)
• zi (Kent)

From Old English sēon, from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną.

• IPA^(key): /seːn/
• IPA^(key): /søːn/, /zøːn/ (West Midland)

seen (third-person singular simple present seeth, present participle seynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative saugh, past participle seen)

1. To see; to perceive with the eyes:
   1. To observe, verify, or witness visually.
      • c. 1390, “Edward þe þridde”, in Sowlehele (Vernon Lyrics, Bodleian MS. Eng. poet. a. 1)‎^[1], Worcestershire, folio 411, recto; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 10 January 2019:

        Now is þat ſchip. þat bar þe flour. / Selden seȝe. and sone foꝛȝete.

        Now that ship which bore the acme is / Rarely seen and quickly forgotten.

   2. To look at (study or monitor visually).
   3. To see indirect evidence of.
   4. To have sight; to be able to see.
2. To understand or perceive:
   1. To see a mental picture of (especially a dream or vision)
      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[2], published c. 1410, Apocalips 6:12, folio 119, verso, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        ⁊ I ſai whãne he hadde openyd the ſıxte ſeel .· / ⁊ lo a greet erþe mouyng was maad / ⁊ þe ſũne was maad blak as a ſak of heire .· and al þe moone was maad as blood

        "And I saw when he'd opened the sixth seal: there was a massive earthquake, the sun was made black like haircloth, and the whole moon became like blood."

   2. To consider or ponder; to mentally observe.
   3. To comprehend or recognise the inner nature of.
   4. To recognise an opportunity.
   5. (in the passive voice) To appear or seem.
3. To take care of or look after:
   1. To care for or protect.
   2. To see to; to ensure or guarantee.
   3. To meet or visit (someone).
4. To experience or undergo (other than specifically visually).
5. To attempt to determine; to inquire about.

• The conjugation of this verb is highly variable; the forms given below are only a representative selection.

• English: see
• Middle Scots: se, see, sie
  • Scots: see, sei
• Yola: zee, zie, ze, zey

• “sẹ̄n, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “see, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• Rettger, James Frederick (1934), “The Development of Ablaut in the Strong Verbs of the East Midland Dialects of Middle English”, in Language (Language Dissertations; 16)‎^[3], volume 10, number 4, Philadelphia: Linguistic Society of America, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, part 2 (Special and Irregular Verbs), chapter 5 (Verbs of Class V), pages 145-148.

seen

1. past participle of see