However, the uses, forms, and derivatives expanded in Rabbinic, Medieval, and Modern Hebrew. Let's take a look some of them.
While the primary meaning of the kal form of the verb שָׁקַע is physical sinking, we already find in the Torah a more figurative sense. Bamidbar 11:2 says וַתִּשְׁקַע הָאֵשׁ - that the fire subsided, died down.
In Rabbinic Hebrew we find the verb used to describe the setting of the sun - שקע השמש (or שקע החמה). From here we find in Medieval Hebrew the familiar term שְׁקִיעָה skkiah - "sunset" (an abbreviated form of the longer term שְׁקִיעַת־הַחַמָּה, which is found in earlier Talmudic literature).
This is also the origin of the modern word שֶׁקַע sheka. It originally could mean depression, indentation, or hollow recess, but today it means electrical socket or outlet, presumably because of the recession it's formed by.
The piel form of the verb, שִׁקַּע, isn't used frequently today. It can mean submerge, but I think הִטְבִּיעַ is more common. However שִׁקַּע does have a scientific use - "to precipitate" and the noun form שִׁקּוּעַ means "precipitation", in the chemical sense of the "sedimentation of a solid material from a liquid solution". But the meteorological version of precipitation - "water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the Earth's surface" - is rendered into Hebrew as מִשְׁקָעִים miska'im. That's a form of the biblical word miskha we saw earlier, which in Modern Hebrew now means "sediment, residue, deposit."
The hifil form, הִשְׁקִיעַ, originally was the transitive form of שָׁקַע, and meant "to cause to sink [lower]". Today, however, it means "to invest." That sense appears in the piel form in Rabbinic Hebrew, for example, in Yerushalmi Shekalim 3:4 כַּמָּה מָמוֹן שִׁיקְּעוּ אֲבוֹתַיי כָאן - "How much money did my forefathers invest here?". This extension of the meaning can be understood by thinking about how "deposit" can mean both "to put down" and "to invest." (You can also "sink your money" into something.) At some point in the Modern period, this usage moved to the hifil form, as noted. The noun, הַשְׁקָעָה hashka'ah - means "investment." In colloquial Hebrew, the adjective מֻשְׁקָע mushka means "well-made", something that someone clearly "invested" a lot of effort in.
The hitpael form, which is usually more intensive, is הִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ hishtakea. It has a few different meanings. According to Morfix, they include:
to settle, to put down roots, to establish a permanent residence ; to immerse oneself (in an activity)
Klein adds the post-biblical sense of "sank into oblivion, was forgotten."
This form might be most familiar from the Pesach Haggadah:
וַיָּגָר שָׁם. מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹא יָרַד יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ לְהִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ בְּמִצְרַיִם אֶלָּא לָגוּר שָׁם
"And resided there: From this, learn that our father Yaakov went down not to permanently settle [לְהִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ] in Egypt, but only to reside there [for a time]."
I was curious as to why the verb לְהִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ was used here. It's rather uncommon in Rabbinic Hebrew, and I might have expected the more familiar הִתְיַשֵּׁב, with a similar meaning. I couldn't find a commentary on the Haggadah (or the parallel midrash to it), but I have a theory.
In three of the six biblical verses where the root שקע appears (Yechezkel 32:14, Amos 8:8, Amos 9:5), there is a reference to Egypt, particularly the waters of the Nile.
The same root also appears elsewhere in the Haggadah, in the Dayenu song:
אִלּוּ הֶעֱבִירָנוּ בְתוֹכוֹ בֶּחָרָבָה וְלֹא שִׁקַּע צָרֵנוּ בְתוֹכוֹ דַּיֵּנוּ.
"Had He brought us through [the sea] dry without drowning [שִׁקַּע] our enemies in it, that would have been enough for us."
So perhaps the verb לְהִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ was chosen here because of its association with Egypt and the Egyptians. And the midrash on the verse might be hinting that had Yaakov intended to settle there permanently, his descendants might have ended up just like those Egyptians.
That might explain why Rambam (Hilchot Melachim 5:8) chose the same verb when describing the halakhic prohibition to settle in Egypt. He first mentions that it is permissible to return to Egypt for trade and commerce, but then notes:
וְאֵין אָסוּר אֶלָּא לְהִשְׁתַּקֵעַ שָׁם.
"It is only prohibited to settle [לְהִשְׁתַּקֵעַ] there."
Later [5:9], when referring to living in other lands, Rambam does not use that verb, rather:
אֲבָל לִשְׁכֹּן בְּחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ אָסוּר
"It is forbidden to reside [לִשְׁכֹּן] outside the Land of Israel."
It seems that Rambam, like the author of the Haggadah, understood the ancient connection between שקע and Egypt.
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