side - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Old English sīde

Middle English side

English side

From Middle English side, from Old English sīde (“side, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ (“side, flank, edge, shore”), derived from *sīdaz, probably from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- (“long, lasting”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Siede (“side”), West Frisian side (“side”), Dutch zijde, zij (“side”), German Low German Sied (“side”), German Seite (“side”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk side (“side”), Swedish sida (“side”).

The LGBTQ slang sense was coined by sex therapist and author Joe Kort in 2010 and popularized in 2013.[1][2] The sense was coined by analogy with top and bottom and based on the metaphor of a box which has a top, bottom, and sides.[1][2]

side (countable and uncountable, plural sides)

  1. A bounding straight edge of a two-dimensional shape.
    A square has four sides.
  2. A flat surface of a three-dimensional object; a face.
    A cube has six sides.
  3. One half (left or right, top or bottom, front or back, etc.) of something or someone.
    Which side of the tray shall I put it on? The patient was bleeding on the right side.
  4. A region in a specified position with respect to something.
    Meet me on the north side of the monument.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
      Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out. Indeed, a nail filed sharp is not of much avail as an arrowhead; you must have it barbed, and that was a little beyond our skill.
  5. The portion of the human torso usually covered by the arms when they are not raised; the areas on the left and right between the belly or chest and the back.
    Meronyms: flank, loin; latus, lumbus
    I generally sleep on my side.
    • 2006, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured (Jones & Bartlett Learning, →ISBN, p. 234:
      Roll the patient onto the left side so that head, shoulders, and torso move at the same time without twisting.
  6. One surface of a sheet of paper (used instead of "page", which can mean one or both surfaces.)
    John wrote 15 sides for his essay!
  7. One possible aspect of a concept, person, or thing.
    She has a mean side (to her).
  8. One set of competitors in a game.
    Which side has kick-off?
  9. (UK, Australia, Ireland) A sports team.
    • 1988, Ken Jones with Pat Welton Crown, Soccer skills & tactics, page 9:
      Newly promoted, they were top of the First Division and unbeaten when they took on a Manchester United side that had been revitalized by a new manager, […].
    • 2011 September 28, Jon Smith, “Valencia 1-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
      It was no less than Valencia deserved after dominating possession in the final 20 minutes although Chelsea defended resolutely and restricted the Spanish side to shooting from long range.
    • 2011, Nick Cain, Greg Growden, Rugby Union For Dummies, 3rd edition, UK, page 220:
      Initially, the English, Welsh, Scots and Irish unions refused to send national sides, preferring instead to send touring sides like the Barbarians, the Penguins, the Co-Optimists, the Wolfhounds, Crawshays Welsh, and the Public School Wanderers.
  10. A group of morris dancers who perform together.
  11. A group having a particular allegiance in a conflict or competition.
    Although there are two sides to every story, the fallacy that they are inevitably equally ethical is called bothsidesism.
    In the Second World War, the Italians were on the side of the Germans until Italy switched sides in 1943.
  1. (music) A recorded piece of music; a record, especially in jazz.
  1. (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) Sidespin; english
    He had to put a bit of side on to hit the pink ball.
  2. (British, Australia, Ireland, dated) A television channel, usually as opposed to the one currently being watched (from when there were only two channels).
    I just want to see what's on the other side — James said there was a good film on tonight.
  3. (US, Canada, Philippines, colloquial) A dish that accompanies the main course; a side dish.
    Do you want a side of cole-slaw with that?
  4. A line of descent traced through a particular relative, usually a parent or spouse, as distinguished from that traced through another.
    his mother's side of the family
  1. (baseball) The batters faced in an inning by a particular pitcher.
    Clayton Kershaw struck out the side in the 6th inning.
  2. (slang, dated, uncountable) An unjustified air of self-importance; a conceited attitude.
  1. (drama) A written monologue or part of a scene to be read by an actor at an audition.
  1. (LGBTQ slang) A person who prefers not to engage in anal sex during same-sex sexual activity.
    My boyfriend and I are both sides; we prefer to do oral and other stuff.
  2. (mathematics, obsolete) A root.

bounding straight edge of an object

flat surface of an object

left or right half

portion of the human torso generally covered by the arms

surface of a sheet of paper

region in a specified position with respect to something

one possible aspect of a concept

set of opponents in a game

Translations to be checked

side (comparative more side, superlative most side)

  1. Being on the left or right, or toward the left or right; lateral.
  2. Indirect; oblique; incidental.
    a side issue; a side view or remark

side (third-person singular simple present sides, present participle siding, simple past and past participle sided)

  1. (intransitive) To ally oneself, be in an alliance, usually with "with" or rarely "in with"
    Which will you side with, good or evil?
    • 1597, Francis Bacon, “Of Great Place”, in Essays:
      All rising to great place is by a winding star; and if there be factions, it is good to side a man's self, whilst he is in the rising, and to balance himself when he is placed.
    • 1714, Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, canto V:
      All side in parties, and begin the attack.
    • 1958, Archer Fullingim, The Kountze [Texas] News, August 28, 1958:
      How does it feel... to... side in with those who voted against you in 1947?
  2. To lean on one side.
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To be or stand at the side of; to be on the side toward.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To suit; to pair; to match.
    • 1660-1667, Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon
      He had ſure read more , and carried more about him , in his excellent Memory , than any Man I ever knew , my Lord Falkland only excepted , who I think ſided him
  5. (transitive, shipbuilding) To work (a timber or rib) to a certain thickness by trimming the sides.
  6. (transitive) To furnish with a siding.
    to side a house
  7. (transitive, cooking) To provide with, as a side or accompaniment.
    • 1995, Orange Coast Magazine, volume 11, number 8, page 166:
      Entrees are sided with a generous portion of vegetables, and some include little surprises […]
    • 2009 March 14, Corey Mintz, “Stop and cheer chefs' dedication to quality”, in Toronto Star‎[3]:
      A chocolate cakelette, caramel percolating from its warm top, is sided with peanut butter chantilly cream.

ally oneself

From Middle English side, syde, syd, from Old English sīd (“wide, broad, spacious, ample, extensive, vast, far-reaching”), from Proto-West Germanic *sīd, from Proto-Germanic *sīdaz (“drooping, hanging, low, excessive, extra”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēy- (“to send, throw, drop, sow, deposit”). Cognate with obsolete Dutch zijd (“wide, vast”), Low German sied (“low”), Swedish sid (“long, hanging down”), Icelandic síður (“low hanging, long”).

side (comparative more side, superlative most side)

  1. (UK archaic, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Wide; large; long, pendulous, hanging low, trailing; far-reaching.
    • c. 1556, Thomas Cranmer, “That the general counsels withoute the worde of god are not sufficiente to make articles of fayth”, in A Confutation of Unwritten Verities‎[4]:
      But when he perceaved that the sayd Pryest could not pourge himself of the foresayd crime he prively payed him his quarters wages before hande and suffered hym to departe without farther tryall of the sayd cryme: and now he jetteth in london wyth side gown and sarcenet typet as good a virgin priest as the best.
    • 1575, Robert Laneham, “The auncient Minstrell described”, in F. J. Furnivall, editor, Robert Laneham’s Letter: Describing a Part of the Entertainment unto Queen Elizabeth at the Castle of Kenelworth in 1575‎[5], London: Chatto & Windus, published 1907, page 38:
      Hiz gooun had syde sleeuez dooun to midlegge, slit from the shooulder too the hand, & lined with white cotten.
    • c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC, [lines 47-50]:
      What doe we make dost thou aske? why we make faces for feare: such as if thy mortall eyes could behold, would make thee water the long seames of thy side slops […]
    • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
      By my troth, ’s but a night-gown in respect of yours: cloth o’ gold, and cuts, and laced with silver, set with pearls, down sleeves, side sleeves, and skirts, round underborne with a bluish tinsel […]
  2. (Scotland) Far; distant.

side (comparative more side, superlative most side)

  1. (UK dialectal) Widely; wide; far.

side (third-person singular simple present sides, present participle siding, simple past and past participle sided)

  1. To clear, tidy or sort.

    • 1883, Jane Welsh Carlyle, Thomas Carlyle, James Anthony Froude, Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle - Volume 1, page 292:
      Meanwhile I have plenty to employ me, in siding drawers and locked places, which I left in the disgracefullest confusion ;
    • 1897, Sir Hall Caine, The Manxman - Volume 2, page 304:
      Now side everything away. The medicines too —put them in the cupboard.
    • 2001, Audrey Howard, The Seasons Will Pass:
      As it had done then, Clare's heart, in a constant state of stress these days, missed a beat now, and she turned hastily to the table where she was siding the dinner things, doing her best to hide her expression which surely would give her away.

  2. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Joe Kort (16 May 2022), “Gay "Sides": How Language Frees Us to be Ourselves”, in Psychology Today‎[1], Sussex Publishers, retrieved 17 January 2025:
    […] in 2013 when, in an article I wrote for the Huffington Post, “Guys on the Side,” I created the term “side” for gay men who aren’t into being a “top” or a “bottom” or practicing anal penetration. […] The term “Side” was created when in 2010, I was talking with some colleagues about “tops” […] and “bottoms” […] and outed myself for being a gay man who doesn’t engage in anal intercourse at all. I joked, “Boxes have a bottom and a top—why can’t men like me be sides?

  3. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Joe Kort (16 April 2013), “Guys on the ‘Side’: Looking Beyond Gay Tops and Bottoms”, in HuffPost‎[2], archived from the original on 7 June 2019:
    What about gay men who have never engaged in anal sex and never will, ever? ¶ I think they deserve a name of their own. I call them “sides.” ¶ Defining a Side ¶ Sides prefer to kiss, hug and engage in oral sex, rimming, mutual masturbation and rubbing up and down on each other, to name just a few of the sexual activities they enjoy. These men enjoy practically every sexual practice aside from anal penetration of any kind. They may have tried it, and even performed it for some time, before they became aware that for them, it was simply not erotic and wasn’t getting any more so. Some may even enjoy receiving or giving anal stimulation with a finger, but nothing beyond that.

From Old Danish sithæ, from Old Norse síða.

side c (singular definite siden, plural indefinite sider)

  1. side; a bounding straight edge or surface
  2. side; a region in a specified position with respect to something.
  3. viewpoint an opinion or attitude
  4. side; one group of competitors in a game or a war.
  5. page; one surface of a sheet of paper.
  6. site; a website or internet site

From Proto-Finnic *sidek. Equivalent to siduma +‎ -e.

side (genitive sideme, partitive sidet)

  1. bond, binding
  2. bandage
  3. relationship, tie
Declension of side (ÕS type 4/ase, no gradation)
singular plural
nominative side sidemed
accusative nom.
gen. sideme
genitive sidemete
partitive sidet sidemeid
illative sidemesse sidemetessesidemeisse
inessive sidemes sidemetessidemeis
elative sidemest sidemetestsidemeist
allative sidemele sidemetelesidemeile
adessive sidemel sidemetelsidemeil
ablative sidemelt sidemeteltsidemeilt
translative sidemeks sidemetekssidemeiks
terminative sidemeni sidemeteni
essive sidemena sidemetena
abessive sidemeta sidemeteta
comitative sidemega sidemetega

side (genitive **side, partitive sidet)

  1. communication (especially one achieved through technology)
  2. signal (especially in radio)
    Miks sidet pole?
    Why is there no signal?
  3. communications (as a field)
  4. (colloquial) post office
Declension of side (ÕS type 16/pere, no gradation)
singular plural
nominative side sided
accusative nom.
gen. side
genitive sidede
partitive sidet sidesid
illative siddesidesse sidedesse
inessive sides sidedes
elative sidest sidedest
allative sidele sidedele
adessive sidel sidedel
ablative sidelt sidedelt
translative sideks sidedeks
terminative sideni sidedeni
essive sidena sidedena
abessive sideta sidedeta
comitative sidega sidedega

From Proto-Finnic *sidek. Equivalent to sitoa (“to bind, tie”) +‎ -e.

side

  1. bandage, dressing (medical binding or strip of cloth used as a blindfold)
  2. bond (that which binds, a band)
  3. bond (emotional link, connection or union)
  4. sanitary towel, sanitary napkin
    Synonyms: terveysside, kuukautisside
  5. (anatomy) ligament
    Synonym: ligamentti

sīde

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of sīdō

From Old Irish saiget, from Latin sagitta.

side f (genitive singular sidey, plural sideyn)

  1. arrow, bolt, shaft

Mutation of side

radical lenition eclipsis
side hideafter "yn", tide unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Manx.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

From Old English sīde.

side

  1. side

side

  1. alternative form of seed (“seed”)

From Old Irish síd, from Proto-Celtic *sīdos (“mound (inhabited by fairies); peace”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēds, from *sed- (“to sit”).

side m

  1. fairy hill or mound
  2. peace

Mutation of side

radical lenition nasalization
side ṡide unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

From Old Norse síða.

side f or m (definite singular sida or siden, indefinite plural sider, definite plural sidene)

  1. a page (e.g. in a book)
  2. side
    på høyre side ― on the right-hand side
  3. (of a case) aspect
  4. (on animal) flank

From Old Norse síða. Akin to English side.

side f (definite singular sida, indefinite plural sider, definite plural sidene)

  1. a page (e.g. in a book)
    ei bok på 300 sider
    a book of 300 pages
  2. a side (various, though not all senses)

side

  1. definite singular of sid
  2. plural of sid

From the adjective sīd.

sīde

  1. widely

From Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ, whence also Old High German sīta.

sīde f

  1. side

Weak _n_-stem:

From Proto-West Germanic *sīdā (whence also Old High German sīda (“silk”)), from Late Latin sēta (“silk”), Classical Latin saeta (“bristle”).

sīde f (nominative plural sīdan)

  1. silk

side

  1. inflection of suide:
    1. nominative/accusative singular masculine unstressed
    2. genitive singular feminine unstressed

Mutation of side

radical lenition nasalization
side ṡide side

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

side

Cognate with Sahu sidete (“sail, to sail”).

side

  1. a sail

side

  1. (intransitive) to sail

From Old Frisian sīde, from Proto-Germanic *sīdǭ.

side c (plural siden, diminutive sydsje)

  1. side
  2. page