# seep

> English word · Verb · IPA /siːp/ · frequency rank #37,680

## Definitions
1. To ooze or pass slowly through pores or other small openings, and in overly small quantities; said of liquids, etc.
2. To enter or penetrate slowly; to spread or diffuse.
3. To diminish or wane away slowly.
4. (of a crack etc.) To allow a liquid to pass through, to leak.
5. To soak.

## Etymology
Variant of sipe, from Middle English *sipen, from Old English sipian, from Proto-Germanic *sipōną, derivative of *sīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *sib- (“to pour out, drip, trickle”).
See also Middle Dutch sīpen (“to drip”), German Low German siepern (“to seep”), archaic German seifen (“to trickle blood”); also Latin sēbum (“suet, tallow”), Ancient Greek εἴβω (eíbō, “to drop, drip”)). See soap.

## Easily confused with
- **SP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sp)
- **she** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-she)
- **set** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-set)
- **sex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sex)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sue)
- **sen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sen)
- **SEO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-seo)
- **SEP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sep)
- **sip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sip)
- **SNP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-snp)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sup)
- **ser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-ser)
- **sew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sew)
- **ses** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-ses)
- **sem** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sem)
- **SEQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-seq)
- **sie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sie)
- **SME** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sme)
- **SSE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-sse)
- **soe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seep-vs-soe)

## Common misspellings (4)
`esep`, `seepp`, `sepe`, `sseep`

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