Middle English Dictionary Entry
sẹ̄ming(e ger.
Entry Info
| Forms | sẹ̄ming(e ger. |
| Etymology | Cp. sẹ̄men v.(2). |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) The act of appearing, appearance; (b) physical appearance, outward aspect; also, the form in which a person appears [last quot.]; in ~, in appearance, to look at; (c) bi (to) ~, to all appearances, as it appears or appeared; (d) bi theire ~, it seemed to them; to his (min, thi, your) ~, unto min ~, in his (my, etc.) opinion or judgment, to his (my, etc.) mind; (e) outward show or adornment; (f) outward appearance as contrasted to efficacy; (g) an impression; (h) behavior, manner of acting; (i) a likeness, similarity; ?a tendency.
Associated quotations
a
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)140a/a : By his sodeyne semynge he [lightning] smytiþ here siȝt þat lokeþ þerinne.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)66 : Cemynge, or a cemys: Apparencia.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)452 : Semynge, or semys: Apparencia.
- c1450 Rwl.Informacio (Rwl D.328)123/62 : What maner of verbis haue strenght to cuppill leke case out-take verbes substantifes and verbes vocatifes? Verbes passifes..and verbis that betokyn semynge, vt 'Appargo bonus, Imino [LPeniarth Informacio(1): Emineo] celsus'.
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)110a : Semynge: Apparencia.
b
- a1425(c1385) Chaucer TC (Benson-Robinson)1.284 : Alle hire lymes so wel answerynge Weren to wommanhod, that creature Was nevere lasse mannyssh in semynge.
- (?a1439) Lydg.FP (Bod 263)3.212 : She was hidous bothe off cheer and face, And in semyng void off sorwe and dreed.
- c1450(?c1400) Wycl.Elucid.(StJ-C G.25)13 : It [child] schulde haue..eten of þe tree of lijf, & euere aftir haue lyued wiþouten semyng of eelde.
- c1475 Why Nun (Vsp D.9)356 : Hyt ys an holy thyng To bene in habyte reguler; Than, as by owtewarde aray in semyng, Beth so wyth-in my ladyes dere.
- a1500(?a1400) SLChrist (Hrl 3909)3421 : Transformet [read: transforme] hym wel i-wys to more elde other lasse he might, As in semyng.
- a1500(1413) *Pilgr.Soul (Eg 615)5.16.97b : The cursed Sathanas in a Schepes symplenesse in semyng..come & hurtelyd with him.
- a1500(?a1425) Laud SSecr.(LdMisc 685)47/26 : He steigh to þe emperien heuene yn þe semynge of fir.
c
- c1400 Bk.Mother (Bod 416)60/14 : Wolde God þat alle þat haue do aȝenus Godis hestis as muche to seminge as Adam dide in etinge of þe appul, [etc.].
- ?a1425(c1400) Mandev.(1) (Tit C.16)156/16 : Þei maken to come in the ayr the sonne & the mone be semynge to euery mannes sight.
- c1450(1369) Chaucer BD (Benson-Robinson)944 : Swich a fairnesse of a nekke Had that swete..Wythouten hole or canel-boon, As be semynge, had she noon.
- c1450 Pilgr.LM (Cmb Ff.5.30)44 : How gret that euere she made it bi seemynge she made it litel.
- (a1460) Bokenham Sts. (Adv Abbotsford B3)81.21 (v.2:p.83) : Albeit that he went vp to semyng in a maner of a cloude, yit did he nat that for he nedid the seruise of a clowde.
- (a1470) Malory Wks.(Win-C)994/21 : Than they lyfft up a cloth which was above the grounde, and there founde a rych purse be semyng.
- a1500(1413) *Pilgr.Soul (Eg 615)3.2.49a : Feyned religiows ypocrites..had the lambe is skyn upon hem selffe be semyng with owt.
d
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Pri.(Manly-Rickert)B.1838 : Tel me, what is thy cause for to synge, Sith that thy throte is kit, to my semynge [vrr. semeinge; lokynge]?
- a1450(c1410) Lovel.Grail (Corp-C 80)28.50 : A lytel thing him thowhte he say Comen..Euere the grettere it wax, to his semenge.
- c1450 ?C.d'Orl.Poems (Hrl 682)62/1814 : Thou cast disseyue me, vnto my semyng, That thou shuldist me vnto my lady bryng.
- c1450 ?C.d'Orl.Poems (Hrl 682)170/5082 : Loke where so that ye kan ought aspy What that she is or gesse, to yowre semyng.
- c1450 Pilgr.LM (Cmb Ff.5.30)91 : 'Whan the sunne is shadewed..whens cometh the day?' 'It cometh,' quod j, 'to my seemynge, of the sunne that is hid.'
- (c1454) Pecock Fol.(Roy 17.D.9)6/33 : Þe arguer intendiþ forto make, as to his semyng, vttirli proof.
- (a1470) Malory Wks.(Win-C)865/23 : Than began every knyght to beholde other, and eyther saw other, by their semynge, fayrer than ever they were before.
- (a1470) Malory Wks.(Win-C)974/30 : As sone as he was entird, the shippe departed into the see, and to hys semyng hit wente fleyng.
- a1475 *Sidrak & B.(Lnsd 793)1449 : Wheþer is best to thi seming, Þe lawe of þe lond or þe king?
- a1475 *Sidrak & B.(Lnsd 793)2342 : Wherfore in þat appul eting Was synne i-nowh, to my seming.
e
- c1390 Ancr.(Vrn:Mac.)469 : Ouer gart semynge [Corp-C: Her to falleð of ueil of heaued clað, of euch oðer clað, to ouegart acemunge oðer in heowunge, oðer ipinchunge].
f
- ?a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)167b/a : Oþer manerez of componyng helpes..be more made to apparence, i. shewing or semyng, & to þe desire of sikemen þan to existence.
g
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)202a/b : It schal seme to hem..þat þe hous schulde falle anone, and þat semynge is by moeuynge þat comeþ by tornynge of þe brayne.
- (c1454) Pecock Fol.(Roy 17.D.9)26/8 : Þer ben dremes in whiche ben semyngis and iugementis þat sensible þingis ben doon whiche ben not doon.
h
- c1450 Royal SSecr.(Roy 18.A.7)11/21 : It is fittyng that the royalle maieste be governyd aftir the rightis and the lawes, nought bi feynt semyng [Lambeth: fenyd semynge; L ficta apparentia] but in dede doyng.
- (a1470) Malory Wks.(Win-C)1045/15 : Had nat sir Launcelot bene..in hys myndis so sette inwardly to the quene as he was in semynge outewarde to God, there had no knyght passed hym in the queste of the Sankgreall.
i
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)520 : Weef, or summe what semynge to badnesse: Inclinacio ad malum.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. seeming.