seal
UK[siːl]US[siːl]
n
A device or substance used to join two things together or prevent something from escaping, typically forming an airtight or watertight closure.
n
A piece of wax, lead, or other material with an individual design stamped into it, attached to a document as a guarantee of authenticity.
n
A fish-eating aquatic mammal with a streamlined body and flippers for limbs.
v
To fasten or close securely, especially to prevent the escape of a liquid or gas.
v
To conclude, settle, or make certain definitively.
Etymology
The modern English word 'seal' is a fascinating homograph, representing the convergence of two unrelated ancient words. The first, denoting a fastening or an authenticating stamp, descends from Latin 'sigillum', a diminutive of 'signum' (sign, mark), which itself traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root sekw- (to follow). The semantic journey moved from "a sign to be followed" to "a distinctive mark" and finally to the object that makes the mark. The second 'seal', the marine mammal, comes from the Old English 'seolh', a Germanic word of uncertain, possibly non-Indo-European, origin. The identical spelling for these two concepts is a historical accident, a result of phonetic evolution and orthographic standardization, presenting a unique case of lexical convergence in the English lexicon.
Analysis
The word 'seal' represents two distinct etymological simplex words that have converged in spelling. The first (meaning a closure or stamp) originates from the Latin 'sigillum', meaning a small sign or figure. The second (meaning the aquatic mammal) originates from the Old English 'seolh'.
Examples
Please seal the envelope before mailing it.
The ancient document bore the king's official wax seal.
We watched a seal basking on the rocky shore.