Meaning

noun French writer whose novels described the sordid side of city life (1804-1857)

verb institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against

originFrom Middle English seuen, sewen, siwen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suer, siwer et al. and Old French sivre (“to follow after”) (modern French suivre), from Vulgar Latin *sequere (“to follow”), from Latin sequi. Cognate with Italian seguire and Spanish seguir. Doublet of segue. Related to suit.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0