# seek

> English word · Verb · IPA /siːk/ · frequency rank #2,462

## Definitions
1. To try to find; to look for; to search for.
2. To ask for; to solicit; to beseech.
3. To try to acquire or gain; to strive after; to aim at.
4. To go, move, travel (in a given direction).
5. To try to reach or come to; to go to; to resort to.
6. To attempt, endeavour, try
7. To navigate through a data stream.

## Etymology
From Middle English seken (also sechen, whence dialectal English seech), from Old English sēċan (compare beseech); from Proto-West Germanic *sōkijan, from Proto-Germanic *sōkijaną (“to seek”), from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂g- (“to seek out”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian säike (“to seek”), West Frisian sykje (“to seek”), Dutch zoeken (“to seek”), Low German söken (“to seek”), German suchen (“to seek”), Danish søge (“to seek”), Swedish söka, Norwegian Bokmål søke (“to seek”), Norwegian Nynorsk søkja (“to seek”), Icelandic sækja (“to seek”). The Middle English and later Modern English hard /k/ derives from Old English sēcð, the third person singular; the forms with /k/ were then reinforced by cognate Old Norse sǿkja.

## Easily confused with
- **SK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sk)
- **she** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-she)
- **set** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-set)
- **sex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sex)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sue)
- **sen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sen)
- **SEO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-seo)
- **SEP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sep)
- **ser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-ser)
- **sew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sew)
- **ses** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-ses)
- **sem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sem)
- **SEQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-seq)
- **sie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sie)
- **SME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sme)
- **SSE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sse)
- **soe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-soe)
- **sei** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sei)
- **Sel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sel)
- **sik** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seek-vs-sik)

## Common misspellings (5)
`esek`, `seekk`, `sek`, `seke`, `sseek`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/seek