Etymograph

English

seem

Seem comes from Middle English semen ‘to seem’, from Old Norse sœma ‘to conform to’, from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną, from PIE *sem-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-‘one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōmijaną‘to unite’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350sœma‘to conform to’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500semen‘to seem’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590seem

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-‘one’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōmijaną‘to unite’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350sœma‘to conform to’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500semen‘to seem’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1590seem

Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser: “And all within were pathes and alleies wide, With…”

The story

Related also to Old Norse sómi (‘honour’) ( > archaic Danish somme (‘decent comportment’)), Old Norse sœmr (‘fitting, seemly’), Old English sēman (‘to reconcile, bring an agreement’), Old English sōm (‘agreement’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one’

some, same, single, similar, simple, simply, soft, sam, simulation, sincerely, singular, simultaneous, anomaly, simulate, sincerity, resemble, resemblance, assemble, assimilate, anomalous, homeopathic, homology, semblance, insincere, hyphen, synapse, simile, simulacrum, homolog, synchronise, sempre, 46 more

through Middle English semen ‘to seem, befit, be becoming’

semen, 1 more

Today it means

verb To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sem- / seem

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