seem

A2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /siːm/ See IPA manual

Homophones

seam /siːm/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like theme /θ/ vs /s/

Freq #615

Meanings

1

verb
to give the impression of being or doing something

She seems happy in her new job.
2

verb
to appear to be true or likely

It seems that nobody knew about the change.

Verb forms

seem, seemed, seemed

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to give the impression of... look appear

2 verb · to appear to be true or likely appear

Word family

Derived forms meseemsmisseemseemerseeming seeminglyseemlessseemlihoodseemliness seemly

Appears in

Proverbs (4)

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Etymology

From Middle English semen (“to seem, befit, be becoming”), from Old Norse sœma (“to conform to, beseem, befit”), from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną (“to unite, fit”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; whole”). Cognate with Scots seme (“to be fitting; beseem”), Danish sømme (“to beseem”), Old Swedish søma, Faroese søma (“to be proper”). 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”).

*sem- Proto-Indo-European semen Middle English sœma Old Norse *sōmijaną Proto-Germanic

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Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# seem

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /siːm/
**Frequency rank:** 615

## Meanings
1. to give the impression of being or doing something
2. to appear to be true or likely

## Examples
- She seems happy in her new job.
- It seems that nobody knew about the change.

## Derived Forms
- meseems
- misseem
- seemer
- seeming
- seemingly
- seemless
- seemlihood
- seemliness
- seemly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *sem-
- Root: semen
- Root: sœma
- Root: *sōmijaną

## Etymology
From Middle English semen (“to seem, befit, be becoming”), from Old Norse sœma (“to conform to, beseem, befit”), from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną (“to unite, fit”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; whole”). Cognate with Scots seme (“to be fitting; beseem”), Danish sømme (“to beseem”), Old Swedish søma, Faroese søma (“to be proper”). 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”).

## AI Etymology
Seem is from Middle English semen (“to seem, befit, be becoming”), from Old Norse sœma (“to conform to, beseem, befit”), from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną (“to unite, fit”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; whole”). Cognate with Scots seme (“to be fitting; beseem”), Danish sømme (“to beseem”), Old Swedish søma, Faroese søma (“to be proper”). 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”). Important forms in the word's history include Proto-Indo-European *sem-, Middle English semen, Old Norse sœma, Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną. In current use it includes senses such as to give the impression of being or doing something and to appear to be true or likely.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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