'secede' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'secedere', where 'se-' meant 'apart' and 'cedere' meant 'to go'.

'secede' came from Latin 'secedere' (and related Late Latin forms such as 'secessio') and entered English in the 17th century with the sense of withdrawing or separating.

Initially, it meant 'to go apart' or 'to withdraw', and over time it evolved into the specific modern meaning 'to withdraw formally from a political or organizational union'.