Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SEEK, v.t. [pret. and pp. sought, pronounced sawt; Sax. secan, sæcan, to seek, to come to; asecan, to require; gesecan, to seek, to come to; forsacan, forsæcan, to forsake; G. suchen, to seek; absuchen, to pick off; besuchen, to visit, to see; gesuch, suit, petition; gesuche, a continued seeking; versuchen, to try, prove, tempt, essay, strive; versuch, trial, essay; D. zoeken, to seek, to look for, to try or endeavor; bezoeken, to visit, to try; gezoek, a seeking; opzoeken, to seek; verzoeken, to request, desire, invite, try, tempt, to visit; Dan. söger, to seek, to endeavor; besöger, to visit; forsöger, to try, to essay, to experiment, to tempt; opsöger, to seek or search after; Sw. söka, to seek, to sue, to court; söka en lagligen, to sue one at law; besöka, to visit; försöka, to try, to essay, to tempt. The words all accord with L. sequor, Ir. seichim, to follow; for to seek is to go after, and the primary sense is to advance, to press, to drive forward, as in the L. peto. See Essay, from the same, root, through the Italian and French. Now in Sax. forsacan, forsæcan, is to forsake; sacan is to strive, contend, whence English sake, and sæcan, secan, is to seek. But in Swedish, försaka, to forsake, to renounce, is from sak, thing, cause, suit, Sax. saca, English sake; in Danish, forsager, to renounce, is from siger, to say; sag, a thing, cause, matter, suit; sagd; a saying; G. versagen, to deny, to renounce, from sagen, to say, to tell; D. verzaaken, to deny, to forsake, to revoke, from zaak, thing, cause, and zeggen is to say or tell, which is the Sax. secgan, to say. These close affinities prove that seek, essay, say, and L. sequor, are all from one radix; coinciding with Ch. עסק, to seek, to strive. Class Sg, No. 46, and see No. 30, Ar. The English verb see seems to be from the same root.]

1. To go in search or quest of; to look for; to search for by going from place to place. The man asked him, saying, what seekest thou? And he said, I seek my brethren. – Gen. xxxvii.
2. To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain by any means. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. – Ps. civ. He found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. – Heb. xii. Others tempting him, sought of him a sign. – Luke xi.
3. Seek is followed sometimes by out or after. To seek out, properly implies to look for a specific thing among a number. But in general, the use of out and after with seek, is unnecessary and inelegant. To seek God, his name, or his face, in Scripture, to ask for his favor, direction and assistance. – Ps. lxiii. lxxxiii. God seeks men, when he fixes his love on them, and by his word and Spirit, and the righteousness of Christ, reclaims and recovers them from their miserable condition as sinners. – Ezek. xxxiv. Ps. cxix. Luke xv. To seek after the life, or soul, or to attempt by arts or machinations; or to attempt to destroy or ruin. – Ps. xxxv. To seek peace, or judgment, to endeavor to promote it; or to practice it. – Ps. xxxiv. Is. i. To seek an altar, temple, or habitation, to frequent it; to resort to it often. – 2 Chron. i. Amos v. To seek out God's works, to endeavor to understand them. – Ps. cxi.