Meaning

verb take hold of; grab

verb take or capture by force

verb take possession of by force, as after an invasion

originEarlier seise, from Middle English seisen, sesen, saisen, from Old French seisir (“to take possession of; invest (person, court)”), from Early Medieval Latin sacīre (“to lay claim to, appropriate”) (8th century) in the phrase ad propriam sacire, from Old Low Frankish *sakjan (“to sue, bring legal action”), from Proto-Germanic *sakjaną, *sakōną (compare Old English sacian (“to strive, brawl”)),…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0