v. (wk.)
Gaw, Pe, Cl past semed; Erk pres. 3 sg. semes; WA pres. 3 sg. semes, semys, pres. pl. seme, pres. ptcp. semand, past sg. semyd, semed
‘to beseem, suit, seem fitting; seem, appear’ (Modern English seem)
PGmc Ancestor
*sōmi-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
sóma ‘to beseem, become, befit’; sœma ‘to honour’
(ONP sóma (vb.); sǿma (vb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Icel sóma; Far, søma, Icel sæma, Norw søma, ODan søme, Dan sømme, OSw söma, syma
OE Cognate
(ge)sēman ‘to smooth over, put right, settle, reconcile, pacify’
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
C3
Very common and widespread from early ME (from Orrm).
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 73, 201, 235 etc.; Pe 760; Cl 117, 416, 793; Erk 98; WA 70, 635, 716 etc.
On the sense in Pe, see EVG 760n. For MS A seme at WA 682 (D se), TPD emend to *sene.