seize: [13] Seize entered English as a term in the feudal legal system, meaning ‘take possession of property’. It was borrowed from Old French seisir, which went back via a Gallo-Latin *sacīre ‘claim’ to a prehistoric Germanic *sakjan. This in turn was derived from the base *sak- ‘process’, which also produced English sake (one of whose ancestral meanings was ‘legal action’). => sake
seize (v.)
mid-13c., from Old French seisir "to take possession of, take by force; put in possession of, bestow upon" (Modern French saisir), from Late Latin sacire, which is generally held to be from a Germanic source, but the exact origin is uncertain. Perhaps from Frankish *sakjan "lay claim to" (compare Gothic sokjan, Old English secan "to seek;" see seek). Or perhaps from Proto-Germanic *satjan "to place" (see set (v.)).
Originally a legal term in reference to feudal property holdings or offices. Meaning "to grip with the hands or teeth" is from c. 1300; that of "to take possession by force or capture" (of a city, etc.) is from mid-14c. Figurative use, with reference to death, disease, fear, etc. is from late 14c. Meaning "to grasp with the mind" is attested from 1855. Of engines or other mechanisms, attested from 1878. Related: Seized; seizing.
双语例句
1. Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.
人生就应该是快乐的，要抓住每一天，孩子们，让你们的生活变得非凡起来。
来自电影《死亡诗社》
2. Army officers plotted a failed attempt yesterday to seize power.
军官们昨天夺权未遂。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The government now hopes to seize the initiative on education.
