sele

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sele"

English

Etymology

From Middle English sele (“happiness, good fortune, bliss; an occasion, period of time”), from Old English sǣl (“time, occasion, an opportune time, opportunity, happiness, prosperity, good times”), from Proto-West Germanic *sālī, from Proto-Germanic *sēliz. Related to silly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siːl/
• Homophone: seal
• Rhymes: -iːl

Noun

sele (countable and uncountable, plural seles)

1. (obsolete or dialectal) Happiness, fortune.
2. (obsolete or dialectal, British) The right time or occasion for something, an opportune moment, season
3. Greeting, salutation.
   • 1862, George Borrow, chapter XXXV, in Wild Wales Its People‚ Language and Scenery‎ (Fiction), Read Central, archived from the original on 31 October 2013:

     I found my friend honest Pritchard smoking his morning pipe at the front door, and after giving him the sele of the day, […]

   • 1897, William Morris, chapter XIV, in The Water of the Wondrous Isles‎ (Fantasy), published 2005, page 245:

     When the morning was come […] so she arose and thrust her grief back into her heart, and gave her fellow-farer the sele of the day, […]

Derived terms

• haysel (“hay season”)

Related terms

• silly

Anagrams

• slee, Slee, lese, lees, EELS, Lees, eels, Else, seel, else, ELEs, l'ees

Asturian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsele/ [ˈse.le]
• Hyphenation: se‧le

Adjective

sele (epicene, plural seles)

1. calm, tranquil

   Synonyms: calmu, tranquilu

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛlɛ]
• Rhymes: -ɛlɛ
• Hyphenation: se‧le

Etymology 1

Noun

sele n (diminutive selátko)

1. piglet

Declension

Declension of sele (t-stem neuter)

	singular	plural
nominative	sele	selata
genitive	selete	selat
dative	seleti	selatům
accusative	sele	selata
vocative	sele	selata
locative	seleti	selatech
instrumental	seletem	selaty

Further reading

• “sele”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “sele”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “sele”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

sele

1. locative singular of selo

   Synonym: selu

Anagrams

• Else
• lese

Fijian

Noun

sele

1. knife

Verb

sele

1. cut (with a knife)

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English sǣl, from Proto-West Germanic *sālī, in turn from Proto-Germanic *sēliz.

Alternative forms

• cele, seile, seel, sel

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seːl/, /sɛːl/

Noun

sele (plural seles)

1. happiness, prosperity, fortune
2. time, duration, season

Descendants

• English: sele, seel
• Scots: seil

References

• “sē̆l(e, n.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English seol, seolh, from Proto-West Germanic *selh, in turn from Proto-Germanic *selhaz.

Alternative forms

• cele, sel

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛːl/

Noun

sele (plural seles)

1. seal (animal)

Descendants

• English: seal
• Scots: selch
• Yola: sel

References

• “sēl(e, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

sele

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From Old Norse seli, sili.

Noun

sele m (definite singular selen, indefinite plural seler, definite plural selene)

1. a harness (usually for horses, dogs and small children)
2. braces (UK) or suspenders (US) (used on trousers)

Derived terms

• buksesele
• seletøy

References

• “sele” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

• esel, esle, lees, lese, -else

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• sållå (dialectal)

Etymology

From Old Norse seli, sili.

Noun

sele m (definite singular selen, indefinite plural selar, definite plural selane)

1. a harness (usually for horses, dogs and small children)
2. braces (UK) or suspenders (US) (used on trousers)
3. (rare, colloquial) seat belt

   Synonym: bilbelte

Usage notes

Depending on dialect, this term can also mean different parts of horse harness.

Derived terms

• buksesele
• seletøy

References

• “sele” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sali, from Proto-Germanic *saliz, from Proto-Indo-European *sel-.

Cognate with Old Saxon seli, Old High German sali, Old Norse salr (Swedish sal), Lombardic sala; and with Old Church Slavonic село (selo), Russian село́ (seló). There was also a Germanic variant *saloz-, Old English sæl (“great hall, (large) house, castle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse.le/

Noun

sele m (nominative plural selas)

1. great hall, house, dwelling, prison
   • Winter ýþe beleác ísgebinde óþ ðæt óðer com geár in geardas swá nú gyt déþ ða ðe sele bewitiaþ wuldortorhtan weder. ― Winter locks the waves with bonds of ice until another year came to the dwellings of those who keep a constant watch for good weather. (Beowulf)
2. tabernacle, gesele

Declension

Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	sele	selas
accusative	sele	selas
genitive	seles	sela
dative	sele	selum

Derived terms

• bānsele (“body (bone-house)”)
• bēagsel, bēagsele (“hall in which rings are distributed”)
• bēorsele (“beer-hall, banqueting hall”)
• burgsele (“castle-hall, house”)
• burnsele (“bath-house”)
• dēaþsele (“death-hall, hell”)
• drēorsele (“dreary hall”)
• dryhtsele (“princely hall”)
• eorþsele (“cave-dwelling”)
• gæstsele (“guest-hall”)
• gesele (“tabernacle”)
• goldsele (“hall in which gold is distributed”)
• grundsele (“abysmal dwelling”)
• gūþsele (“hall of warriors”)
• hēahsele (“high hall”)
• hornsele (“house with gables”)
• hringsele (“hall in which rings are bestowed”)
• hrōfsele (“roofed hall”)
• nīþsele (“hall of conflict”)
• seledrēam (“hall-joy, festivity”)
• seleful (“hall-goblet”)
• seleġesċēot, selesċot (“tabernaculum, tent, lodging-place, nest”) (German Geschoss)
• selegyst (“hall-guest”)
• selerǣdend (“hall ruler or possessor”)
• selerest (“bed in hall”)
• selesecg (“retainer”)
• seleþegn (“hall-thane, retainer, attendant”)
• seleweard (“hall-warden”)
• þacsele, þæcsele (“a building with a thatched roof”)
• willsele (“pleasant dwelling”)
• wyrmsele (“hall of serpents, hell”)

Related terms

• sæl

Descendants

• Middle English: *sele
  • ⇒ Middle English: wunsele

References

• John R. Clark Hall (1916), “sele”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan
• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “sele”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin sella.

Noun

sele oblique singular, f (oblique plural seles, nominative singular sele, nominative plural seles)

1. saddle (equipment used on a horse)

Related terms

• enseler

Descendants

• Middle French: selle
  • French: selle
• Norman: selle

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *saiwalu.

Noun

sēle f

1. soul, life

Inflection

Strong feminine o-stem

References

• Köbler, Gerhard, Altfriesisches Wörterbuch (4th edition 2014)

Portuguese

Verb

sele

1. inflection of selar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Sotho

Enumerative

sele

1. other

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsele/ [ˈse.le]
• Rhymes: -ele
• Syllabification: se‧le

Verb

sele

1. inflection of ser:
   1. second-person singular imperative combined with le
   2. second-person singular voseo imperative combined with le

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

sele

Wikipedia ^sv

Noun

sele c

2. a harness (for a horse or other draft animal)

   Synonym: seldon

4. a harness (arrangement with straps or the like to provide for attachment or to carry something or the like)

Declension

Declension of sele

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	sele	seles
	definite	selen	selens
plural	indefinite	selar	selars
	definite	selarna	selarnas

Derived terms

• barnsele (“child harness”)
• bärsele (“baby carrier”)
• fallskärmssele (“parachute harness”)
• hundsele (“dog harness”)
• klättersele (“climbing harness”)
• sela (“to harness”)
• skidsele (“ski harness”)
• stridssele (“combat harness”)
• säkerhetssele (“safety harness”)

See also

• betsel (“bridle”)
• fira (“lower (by letting out on a rope)”)
• fira sig ner (“rappel, abseil”)
• hissa
• tygel (“rein”)
• vinscha (“winch”)

References

• sele in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sele in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sele in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)