seal

Where does the word "seal" come from? It comes from Latin sigillum, passing through Old French before entering English (1200s).

Seal’s story begins in Latin: sigillum meant “small figure, seal.” A diminutive of 'signum', sign. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as seel. Wax seals authenticated documents. It reached English by 1200s as seal. Unrelated to the animal 'seal', which is from Old English. Today, seal means a stamp pressed into wax; to close tightly.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient sigillum "small figure, seal", a diminutive of 'signum', sign.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval seel "seal", wax seals authenticated documents.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1200s seal "a stamp", unrelated to the animal 'seal', which is from Old English.