Abdulah Škaljić (1966), Turcizmi u srpskohrvatskom jeziku, Svjetlost: Sarajevo, page 562
Etymology
From Ottoman Turkish [script needed](sevdi) (compare Turkish sevdi), third-person singular past definite indicative of [script needed](sevmek) (Turkish sevmek(“to love”)), used as a participle in Serbo-Croatian. Akin to севда̀лӣнка, севда̀лија, севда̀лук, сѐвда̄х, сѐвдисати.