Seem Definition

sēm

seemed, seems

verb

seemed, seems

To appear to be; have the look of being.

They seemed so happy together.

Webster's New World

To appear; give the impression.

He seems to know the neighborhood well.

Webster's New World

Used to call attention to one's impression or understanding about something, especially in weakening the force of a following infinitive.

I can't seem to get the story straight.

American Heritage

To appear to exist.

There seems no point in going.

Webster's New World

To be apparently true.

It seems he was here ahead of us.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Origin of Seem

Middle English semen "to seem, befit, be becoming" from Old Norse sÅ“ma (“to conform to, beseem, befit") (> Danish sømme (“beseem")) from sÅ“mr (“fitting, seemly"), from Proto-Germanic *sōmijanÄ… (“to unite, fit"), akin to Old Norse sōmi (“honour") (> archaic Danish somme (“decent comportment")), Old English sÄ“man (“to reconcile, bring an agreement"), Old English sōm (“agreement").

From Wiktionary
Middle English semen from Old Norse sœma to conform to from sœmr fitting sem-¹ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition