Past tense and past participle of 'seek'. Attempted to find, obtain, or achieve something through search or effort.
From Old English sōhte, past tense of sēcan meaning 'to seek, pursue, or go in search of'. The word has maintained its core meaning across Germanic languages for over a thousand years.
This irregular verb form preserves ancient Germanic sound changes - notice how the vowel shifts from 'seek' to 'sought', similar to 'teach/taught'. It's one of English's most persistent irregular verbs, unchanged since medieval times.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.