see.
To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight.
Meaning & usage
To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight.
To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight. To witness or observe by personal experience.
Now I've seen it all!
I'm seeing much better since I got my eyeglasses recalibrated.
To perceive or detect someone or something with the eyes, or as if by sight. To watch (a movie) at a cinema, or a show on television etc.
I saw the latest Tarantino flick last week.
To form a mental picture of, to perceive in a certain way.
I see it as essential that there should be somewhere to park.
To form a mental picture of, to perceive in a certain way. To understand.
Do you see what I mean?
To form a mental picture of, to perceive in a certain way. To come to a realization of having been mistaken or misled.
They're blind to the damage they do, but someday they'll see.
To form a mental picture of, to perceive in a certain way. To foresee, predict, or prophesy.
The oracle saw the destruction of the city.
To form a mental picture of, to perceive in a certain way. Used to emphasise a proposition.
You see, Johnny, your Dad isn't your real father.
You're not welcome here any more, see?
To meet, to visit. To have an interview with; especially, to make a call upon; to visit.
You'd better see about that with the boss.
To meet, to visit. To date frequently.
I've been seeing her for two months.
To meet, to visit. To visit for an appointment, especially a medical appointment.
You should see a doctor about that rash on your arm.
I've been seeing a therapist for three years now.
To meet, to visit. To be attended to during an appointment, especially a medical appointment.
The doctor will see you now.
To be the setting or time of.
The 20th century saw humanity's first space exploration.
1999 saw the release of many great films.
Chiefly followed by that: to ensure that something happens, especially by personally witnessing it.
I'll see you hang for this
I was at the docks seeing that the goods got properly unloaded.
To wait upon; attend, escort.
I saw the old lady safely across the road.
You can see yourself out.
To respond to another player's bet with a bet of equal value.
I'll see your twenty dollars and raise you ten.
To determine by trial or experiment; to find out (if or whether).
I'll come over later and see if I can fix your computer.
You think I can't beat you in a race, eh? We'll see.
To reference or to study for further details.
Step 4: In the system, check out the laptop to the student (see: "Logging Resources" in the Tutor Manual).
For a complete proof of the Poincaré conjecture, see Appendix C.
To examine something closely, or to utilize something, often as a temporary alternative.
Can I see that lighter for a second? Mine just quit working.
To include as one of something's experiences.
The equipment has not seen usage outside of our projects.
I saw military service in Vietnam.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English seen, from Old English sēon (“to see, look, behold, perceive, observe, discern, understand, know”), from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”). Etymology 1 sense 9 is a calque of Latin vidē (“see (thou)”, 2ⁿᵈ person singular imperative), which was also borrowed into academic English (see vide) as well as Portuguese. Cognates Cognate with Scots see, sei (“to see”), Yola sau, ze, zee, zey, zie (“to see”), North Frisian se, si, siin, siine, siinj, sä, säie (“to see”), Saterland Frisian sjo (“to see”), West Frisian sjen (“to see”), Bavarian segn (“to see”), Central Franconian sehn, senn (“to see”), Dutch zien (“to see”), Low German sehn (“to see; to look”), German sehen (“to see”), Limburgish séëne, zeen (“to see”), Luxembourgish gesinn (“to see”), Alemannic German gseh (“to see”), Mòcheno sechen (“to see”), Vilamovian zaon (“to see”), Yiddish זען (zen, “to see”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish se (“to see”), Elfdalian sją̊ (“to see”), Faroese síggja (“to see”), Icelandic sjá (“to see”), Norwegian Nynorsk sjå (“to see”), sia (“to foretell”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan, “to see”), and more distantly with Albanian shof, shoh (“to see”), Latin secūtus, sequūtus (“followed”), Ancient Greek ἕπομαι (hépomai, “to follow, obey”), Persian ا (a), از (az), ز (ze, “from, of”), Luwian 𒁕𒀀𒌋𒄿𒅖 (“eye”), Sanskrit सच् (sac, “to be associated with, familiar with, have to do with”).
Introducing an explanation.
See, in order to win the full prize we would have to come up with a scheme to land a rover on the Moon.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English seen, from Old English sēon (“to see, look, behold, perceive, observe, discern, understand, know”), from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan, from Proto-Germanic *sehwaną (“to see”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, notice”). Etymology 1 sense 9 is a calque of Latin vidē (“see (thou)”, 2ⁿᵈ person singular imperative), which was also borrowed into academic English (see vide) as well as Portuguese. Cognates Cognate with Scots see, sei (“to see”), Yola sau, ze, zee, zey, zie (“to see”), North Frisian se, si, siin, siine, siinj, sä, säie (“to see”), Saterland Frisian sjo (“to see”), West Frisian sjen (“to see”), Bavarian segn (“to see”), Central Franconian sehn, senn (“to see”), Dutch zien (“to see”), Low German sehn (“to see; to look”), German sehen (“to see”), Limburgish séëne, zeen (“to see”), Luxembourgish gesinn (“to see”), Alemannic German gseh (“to see”), Mòcheno sechen (“to see”), Vilamovian zaon (“to see”), Yiddish זען (zen, “to see”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Swedish se (“to see”), Elfdalian sją̊ (“to see”), Faroese síggja (“to see”), Icelandic sjá (“to see”), Norwegian Nynorsk sjå (“to see”), sia (“to foretell”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan, “to see”), and more distantly with Albanian shof, shoh (“to see”), Latin secūtus, sequūtus (“followed”), Ancient Greek ἕπομαι (hépomai, “to follow, obey”), Persian ا (a), از (az), ز (ze, “from, of”), Luwian 𒁕𒀀𒌋𒄿𒅖 (“eye”), Sanskrit सच् (sac, “to be associated with, familiar with, have to do with”).
A diocese or archdiocese: a region of a church, generally headed by a bishop or an archbishop.
The office of a bishop or archbishop.
A seat; a site; a place where sovereign, autonomous, or autocephalous power is exercised.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English se, see, from Old French see, sié (“seat, throne; town, capital; episcopal see”), from Latin sēdēs (“seat”), referring to the bishop's throne or chair (compare seat of power) in the cathedral; related to the Latin verb sedēre (“to sit”). Doublet of sedes.
Alternative form of cee; the name of the Latin script letter C/c.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.