English
seem
Seem comes from Middle English semen ‘to seem’, from Old Norse sœma ‘to conform to’, from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną, from PIE *sem-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-1‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōmijaną1‘to unite’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350sœma1‘to conform to’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500semen1‘to seem’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590seem1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English seem
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser: “And all within were pathes and alleies wide, With…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sem-Wiktionary, English seem‘one’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sōmijanąWiktionary, English seem‘to unite’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350sœmaWiktionary, English seem‘to conform to’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500semenWiktionary, English seem‘to seem’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590seemWiktionary, English seem. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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’).
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with seem, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *sem- ‘one’
- some ← som ← sum ← *sum ← *sumaz
- same ← samr ← *samaz ← *somHós
- single ← sengle ← singulus
- similar ← similaire ← similaris ← similis ← *semalis
- simple ← symple ← simplus
- simply ← symply ← symple ← simple ← simplus
- soft ← softe ← sōfte ← *samft(ī)
- sam ← sammen ← samnian ← *samnōn ← *samnōną
- simulation ← symulacioun ← simulātiōnem ← simulō ← similis
- sincerely ← sincērus ← *senkairos
- singular ← singuler ← singulāris ← singulus
- simultaneous ← simultaneus ← simultās ← simul
67 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
verb To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “seem”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sem- / seem