sec
/sɛk/
adjective
Origin
Latin
siccus — dry
Overview
Meaning Now
- Of wine, especially champagne: dry.
Literal older meaning
dry
Language path
Latin → Old French → French → English
Earliest form
sec
Earliest period
17th century
Journey
The term 'sec' entered the English lexicon primarily through the wine trade, where French classifications for sugar content (brut, sec, demi-sec, doux) were adopted to describe the dryness of champagne and other sparkling wines.
Evolution
- Latin
siccus
“dry”
- Old French
sec
“dry”
- French
sec
“dry; (of wine) dry”
- English
sec
“dry (referring to wine)”
Connections
Word parts
sec
root
dry
Related across languages
French
dry
Spanish
seco
dry
Italian
secco
dry
Explore next
Related to sec
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.