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ce·vi·che or se·vi·che

(sə-vēchā, sĕ-)

Raw seafood marinated in a mixture of lime or lemon juice and spices until the citrus causes the seafood to become firm, served as an appetizer.

[Spanish cebiche, ceviche, from Arabic sikbāj, meat cooked in vinegar, from Middle Persian *sikbāg : sik, vinegar + -bāg, food, broth (from Old Iranian *-pāka-, cooked (with or in); see pek^w- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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