Seeker

How to spell seeker

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce seeker

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does seeker mean?

1. nounA person who is looking for or trying to obtain something.

Seeker in a sentence

• Every job seeker in the room had updated their CV.

• The retreat attracts many a spiritual seeker each spring.

Where does seeker come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word seeker is built on the verb seek, which descends from the Old English secan, meaning 'to look for, pursue, or strive after'. That verb belonged to a wide family of Germanic words, with close cousins in Old Norse soekja and Old High German suohhen, all carrying the sense of going after something. The agent suffix -er, also of Germanic origin, was attached to mark the person who performs the action, exactly as it does in baker, writer, and runner. So seeker simply means 'one who seeks', a pattern English has used since the medieval period. The double e in the root has stayed remarkably stable, which keeps the modern spelling reassuringly regular.

How the word is built

• seek (from Old English secan: to look for, pursue)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)