Sue

How to spell sue

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce sue

What does sue mean?

1. verbTo start a legal case against a person or organisation in order to claim money or force action.

Sue in a sentence

• The contractor threatened to sue the developer over the unpaid invoices.

• Customers decided to sue the airline after the cancelled flights left them stranded.

Where does sue come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the Old French verb suir (also spelled sivre), meaning 'to follow' or 'to pursue', which descended from the Latin sequi, literally 'to follow'. English adopted it in the 1200s with the general sense of following after something or pursuing a request, which is why the earliest uses meant to petition, to seek, or to make a formal appeal. From the idea of pursuing a claim, the legal meaning gradually narrowed to 'to follow up a case in a court of law', which is the dominant meaning today. The same Latin root sequi sits inside many familiar relatives, including 'sequence', 'consequence', and 'pursue', the last of which still keeps the older 'follow after' flavour. Because the word is so short and ends in the unusual letter cluster 'ue', writers sometimes hesitate over its spelling even though it is one of the smallest legal terms in English.

How the word is built

• sue (from Old French suir, to follow/pursue, ultimately Latin sequi: to follow)