Meanings
-
1
verb
To take legal action against someone in a court of law.
She decided to sue the company for selling a faulty product.
-
2
verb
To ask for or request something formally, such as peace or mercy.
The defeated king sued for peace.
Thesaurus
Word family
Forms
suedsuessuing
Related forms
fig-sue
Etymology
From Middle English seuen, sewen, siwen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suer, siwer et al. and Old French sivre (“to follow after”) (modern French suivre), from Vulgar Latin *sequere (“to follow”), from Latin sequi. Cognate with Italian seguire and Spanish seguir. Doublet of segue. Related to suit.
*sekʷ-
Proto-Indo-European
seuen
Middle English
suer
xno
sivre
Old French
*sequere
la-vul
sequi
Latin
View etymology graph ->