Meaning

noun a strainer for separating lumps from powdered material or grading particles

verb examine in order to test suitability

verb check and sort carefully

originFrom Middle English sive, syfe, from Old English sife, from Proto-West Germanic *sibi (“sieve”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyp-, *seyb- (“to pour, sieve, strain, run, drip”). Akin to German Sieb, Dutch zeef, Proto-Slavic *sito (Russian си́то (síto), сев (sev), се́ять (séjatʹ)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0