To seek out somebody is to look for them until you find them. Deliberate, and not giving up.
The deliberateness is what separates it from simply finding, since seeking somebody out means going to the trouble. It splits round an object. The word seek is formal on its own and slightly biblical, which is why the phrasal version feels more natural in speech. There is a common use about advice, since seeking out an expert means going to find the right person rather than asking whoever is nearest.
1phraseseek outTo search for someone or something until you find them.
“He would always seek out the oldest people in the village.”
Seek out used to be outseek. Middle English had outsechen, with the particle in front of the verb, and the phrase later turned itself around.
Middle English
seken out
English, today
seek out
Built from
From Middle English seken out, sechen out (“to seek out”), dissimilated from Middle English outseken, outsechen (“to seek out”). More at outseek.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 10 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word