Catholic English

What does the word seek mean in English, and how do we use it?

There are several verbs in the English language that deal with our sense of sight.

First, we have five senses. We’ll concentrate on the sense of sight here, but to put it into context, here are the five senses:

• Sight – we see with our eyes
• Hearing – we hear with our ears
• Taste – we taste with our tongue/mouth
• Smell – we smell with our nose
• Touch – we feel with our body

When we open our eyes, most of us see things and colours. Jesus opened the eyes of the blind man so he could see, but we’re not told what he could see, he could simply see.

The verb see can have an object, for example ‘Can you see that bird?’ The bird is the object.

The other basic verb for the sense of sight is to look, for example ‘Look at that bird.’

In modern English usage we often talk about looking for something, for example ‘Have you seen my key? I’m looking for it.’

We can look for a job, or a house too. We can look for things we’ve lost (like the key) or something we want (like a job).

Another common English verb with a similar meaning is to search. We often search for information on the internet for example, or we search for a job, or we can search for a book or a tool. To look for and to search have almost exactly the same meaning. Maybe if you’re searching for something, then it’s taking a bit longer, or you have more desire to find the thing you’re looking for.

Ah, the goal of the search is to find what you’re looking for. Sometimes we can search forever, or until we give up, but usually, we find. Then we can say ‘It’s OK, I’ve found it.’

To seek is an older form of this phrasal verb, to look for, or to search.

We still use the verb to seek in modern English, but it’s quite formal. In Britain we call people who are looking for work job seekers, and people running away from war or persecution asylum seekers.

In history, many people have left their homes ‘to seek their fortune’, to look for a better life.

To seek often has a more abstract, poetic or spiritual feel. We can seek inspiration, we can seek companionship, we can seek safety and security, we can seek solutions.

Certainly the verb to seek is used more in the Bible and in the works of older writers than it is today, as we’ve moved more towards the words to look for or to search.

Here are some more examples from the bible:

 “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Matthew 7:7 (NRSV)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 (New International Version, NIV)

“From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29 (NRSV)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 (NRSV)

“Those who speak on their own seek their own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing unjust in him.” John 7:18 (NRSV)