An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/sichten

by Friedrich Kluge

sichten, vb., ‘to sift, winnow,’ ModHG. only, formed from LG. sichten, earlier Du. zichten, ‘to sift’; these are derived from an older siften, with a LG. change of ft to ht; ModDu. ziften, with an abnormal ft (for gt), is based on zeef, ‘sieve.’ Comp. AS. siftan, E. to sift. A derivative of the root sib, ‘to sift’; see Sieb.