From Old English sife, from PIE *seip- 'to pour out' — a cousin of 'sift' and possibly 'seep.'
A utensil consisting of a wire or plastic mesh held in a frame, used for straining solids from liquids or separating fine particles.
From Old English sife 'sieve,' from Proto-Germanic *sibją, possibly from PIE *seip- 'to pour out, sieve.' The word has been remarkably stable — Old English sife and modern sieve are nearly identical. The metaphorical sense 'a memory like a sieve' dates from the 1610s. Key roots: *seip- (Proto-Indo-European: "to pour out, drip").