seem

CEFRA1

/ˈsiːm/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To appear to be true or have a particular quality.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To befit; to beseem.

Examples

  • I seem to have accumulated a lot of books.

  • You seem to be an honest man.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈsɪi̯m]

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

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

More examples

In context

  • You seem an honest man.

  • It seems a pity, but I can't see you this weekend.

  • 1813 (14ᵗʰc.), Dante Alighieri, The Vision of Hell as translated by The Rev. H. F. Cary. He, from his face removing the gross air, / Oft his left hand forth stretch'd, and seem'd alone / By that annoyance wearied.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

At first glance, the math problem may blank simple, but it requires many steps.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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”).