sue
English
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.
Pronunciation
Verb
sue (third-person singular simple present sues, present participle suing, simple past and past participle sued)
- (transitive) To file a legal action against someone, generally a non-criminal action.
- sue someone for selling a faulty product
- I plan to sue you for everything you have.
- 1897, Warren Bert Kimberly, “W. Horgan”, in History of West Australia:
- He was sued by the late Geo. Walpole Leake for slander, and after two trials, occupying eight days, he was mulcted in heavy damages and costs.
- (transitive, intransitive) To seek by request; to make application; to petition; to entreat; to plead.
- (transitive, falconry, of a hawk) To clean (the beak, etc.).
- (transitive, nautical) To leave high and dry on shore.[1]
- to sue a ship
- (obsolete, transitive) To court.
- (obsolete, transitive) To follow.
- 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum iv”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XIII, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
- And the olde knyght seyde unto the yonge knyght, ‘Sir, swith me.’
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- though oft looking backward, well she vewd, / Her selfe freed from that foster insolent, / And that it was a knight, which now her sewd, / Yet she no lesse the knight feard, then that villein rude.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:sue.
Derived terms
- sue for peace
- sue me
- sue one's livery
- sue out
Related terms
English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ- (3 c, 0 e)
Translations
to file a legal action
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See also
References
- 1841, Richard Henry Dana Jr., The Seaman's Friend
French
Verb
sue
Galician
Verb
sue
- (reintegrationist norm) inflection of suar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsu.e/
- Rhymes: -ue
- Hyphenation: sù‧e
Anagrams
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈsu.e/, [ˈs̠uɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈsu.e/, [ˈsuːe]
Middle English
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: su‧e
Verb
sue
- inflection of suar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
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