sem

sem

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Semitic languages.

• IPA^(key): /sɛm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛm

sem (plural sems)

1. Clipping of seminary.
2. Clipping of semester.
3. Clipping of semicolon (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• EMS, EMs, Ems, MES, MEs, MSE, SME, ems, mes, mes-

From Proto-Bahnaric *ceː₂m, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *cim ~ *ciim ~ *ciəm ~ *caim ~ *cum (“bird”).

• IPA^(key): /sɛːm/

sem 

1. bird

• som (Northern, standard)

sem

1. (Northern, Alghero) first-person plural present indicative of ésser
2. (Northern, Alghero) first-person plural present indicative of ser

From clipping of English semester.

sem

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) semester (Classifier: 個／个 c)

   終於完sem喇。／终于完sem喇。 [Hong Kong Cantonese]  ―  zung¹ jyu¹ jyun⁴ sem⁶ laa³. [Jyutping]  ―  The semester has finally ended.

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

Inherited from Old Czech sěmo / sěm, from Proto-Slavic *sěmo.

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛm]

• Audio:

  (file)

sem

1. hither (to here)

sem

1. nine

• se

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛm]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛm

sem (clitic)

1. …, neither (or not…, either)

   Julit sem láttam. ― I didn’t see Juli, either. [aside from not having seen another person]

   Én sem láttam Julit. ― I didn’t see Juli, either. [aside from other people who haven't seen her]

2. not even

   Meg sem próbálta. ― S/he didn’t even try it.

sem (paired)

1. neither… nor…

   Sem te, sem ő nem jöhettek velem. ― Neither you nor s/he can come with me.

The word sem and nincs, nincsen (“it/there isn't”) are contracted into the forms sincs, sincsen (“it/there isn't, either”).

• koránt (used in the phrases korántsem, koránt sincs)

• sem in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

• IPA^(key): /sɛːm/
• Rhymes: -ɛːm
• (before words beginning with a consonant) IPA^(key): /sɛm/

From Old Norse sem (“as, like”), possibly from Proto-Germanic *samaz (“same, alike”).

sem

1. (with a noun phrase) as, like

   Hann var sem guð meðal manna.

   He was like a god amongst men.

   Hár hennar var hvítt sem snjór.

   Her hair was white as snow.

   Hann er sem nýr.

   He is as [good as] new.

   Vista sem…

   Save as…

2. (with a clause) like, as if

   Svo virðist sem sjúkdómurinn sé arfgengur

   Is seems as though the disease is hereditary.

3. (relative, with a clause) who, which, that

   Þetta er maðurinn sem ég hitti í gær.

   That’s the man that I met yesterday.

   Þetta er konan sem barði mig.

   That’s the woman who hit me.

• (as, like, as if): eins og
• (which, that): er

sem (weak)

1. first-person singular present indicative of semja
2. second-person singular imperative of semja

sem

1. alternative form of seem (“seam”)

sem

1. alternative form of seem (“load”)

Possibly from Proto-Germanic *samaz (“same, alike”).

• som, sum — late Old Norse

sem

1. as, the same, like

• Icelandic: sem
• Faroese: sum (from East Nordic)
• Norwegian Nynorsk: (dialectal) sem, se
• Old Swedish: sum, som
  • Swedish: som
  • → Middle Norwegian: sum
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: som, sum; (dialectal) søm, so
• Danish: som
  • Norwegian Bokmål: som

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

sem

1. inflection of semja:
   1. first-person singular active present indicative
   2. second-person singular active imperative

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “sem”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

• sẽ

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *t͡ʃem, from Proto-Tupian *t͡ʃem.

Cognate with Guaraní sẽ, Sateré-Mawé wẽẽ-tẽp.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ̃m/
• Rhymes: -ɛ̃m
• Hyphenation: sem

sem (first-person singular active indicative asem, first-person singular negative active indicative n'asemi, noun sema) (intransitive)

1. to exit; to leave; to get out

   Asem 'y suí.

   I got out of the water.

2. to move (to change residence)

   Synonym: îakasó

3. (of a celestial body) to rise
4. (rare) to be born [with suí ‘from someone’]

   Synonym: 'ar

   • 1586, André Thevet, “Du Goulphre ou Riviere de Ganabara”, in Le Grand Insulaire et Pilotage d’André Thevet [The Great Islander and Piloting of André Thevet], page 253:

     aëoſen Maria Vurgon ſuy

     [A'e osem Maria Virgem suí.]

     He was born from Mary Virgin.

   • 1586, André Thevet, “Du Goulphre ou Riviere de Ganabara”, in Le Grand Insulaire et Pilotage d’André Thevet [The Great Islander and Piloting of André Thevet], page 253:

     aë aué de ſuy oſenuaë puera Jeſus

     [A'e abé nde suí osẽba'epûera Jesus.]

     He also who was born from you, Jesus.

• Nheengatu: semu, sému, sema (obsolete)

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “sem”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 441, column 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese sen, from Latin sine, from Proto-Indo-European *sene.

• Audio (Northern Portugal):

  (file)

• Audio (Portugal):

  (file)

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ẽj̃, (Portugal) -ɐ̃j̃
• Homophone: cem
• Hyphenation: sem

sem

2. -less; without (not having, containing, characteristic of, etc.)

   Antonym: com

   um livro sem capa ― a book without a cover

   casa sem janelas ― windowless house

4. (followed by infinitive) without (not doing or not having done something)

   Ele gosta de comer tudo sem dividir.

   He likes to eat everything without sharing.

   Ele atirou sem avisar ninguém.

   He shot without warning anyone.

5. no (indicates lack of possibility or allowance)

   Sem fotos.

   No photos.

   Sem tocar!

   No touching!

For quotations using this term, see Citations:sem.

• (not having): desprovido de, falto de

• (antonym(s) of “not doing or having done something”): use gerund (-ando, -endo, -indo)

• → Ambonese Malay: seng
• Macanese: sim

sem

1. first-person singular present indicative of si

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• IPA^(key): /sem/

sem (Cyrillic spelling сем)

1. except, apart from, besides

From Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma).

• IPA^(key): /sêːm/

sȇm m animacy unspecified (Cyrillic spelling се̑м)

1. (semantics) the smallest unit of meaning

• https://staznaci.com/sem
• “sem”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

• IPA^(key): /sə́m/

From Proto-Slavic *sěmo.

sem

1. hither, over here (to here)

From Proto-Slavic *esmь.

sə̏m

1. first-person singular present of bíti

• “sem”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

From English same.

sem

1. same
   • 1989, Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, Jenesis 2:25:

     Tasol tupela i no sem.

     →New International Version translation

sem

1. hair

• http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2013/zouphonologyfinal.pdf