sem

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sem"

Translingual

Symbol

sem

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

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛm

Noun

sem (plural sems)

1. Clipping of seminary.
2. Clipping of semester.
3. Clipping of semicolon.

Anagrams

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

Bahnar

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛːm/

Noun

sem 

1. bird

Catalan

Alternative forms

• som (Northern, standard)

Verb

sem

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

Chinese

Etymology

From clipping of English semester.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sem⁶

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sem⁶
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sem⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: sém⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛːm²²/

Noun

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.

Derived terms

• sem尾
• sem頭／sem头
• sem頭不努力，sem尾徒傷悲／sem头不努力，sem尾徒伤悲
• 完sem
• 開sem／开sem
• 開sem飯／开sem饭

 

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese

Czech

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛm]

• Audio:

  (file)

Adverb

sem

1. hither (to here)

Eskayan

Numeral

sem

1. nine

Hungarian

Alternative forms

• se

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛm]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛm

Conjunction

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.

Conjunction

sem (paired)

1. neither… nor…

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

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

• semleges

 

Compound words

• hogysem
• korántsem
• mégsem
• mintsem
• semmi
• semmikor
• semmilyen
• senki
• sohasem
• sosem

 

Expressions

• a füle botját sem mozdítja
• ennek a fele sem tréfa
• néma gyereknek az anyja sem érti a szavát
• szóra sem érdemes

 

See also

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

Further reading

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

Icelandic

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Conjunction

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.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• ekki er allt gull sem glóir
• láta sem vind um eyru þjóta
• samt sem áður
• sem allra best
• sem og
• sem sé/sem sagt
• þar sem (þars)
• því meira sem

 

Verb

sem (weak)

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

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

sem

1. Alternative form of seem (“seam”)

Etymology 2

Noun

sem

1. Alternative form of seem (“load”)

Old Norse

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• som, sum — late Old Norse

Conjunction

sem

1. as, the same, like

Descendants

• 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

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

sem

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

References

• “sem”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Tupi

Alternative forms

• sẽ

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *t͡sẽp, from Proto-Tupian *tẽp.

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

Pronunciation

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

Verb

sem (first-person singular active indicative asem, first-person singular negative active indicative n'asemi, first-person singular gerund gûisema, 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

Conjugation

    Conjugation of sem (intransitive, S-starting, consonant ending) (See Appendix:Old Tupi verbs)

Note: not all forms are attested, most of the table is reconstructed based on known patterns.

Causative	mosem
Causative-comitative	erosem
Deverbals
-ba'e	osemyba'e
-sab(a)	sembaba
-sar(a)	sembara
	Singular		Singular & Plural	Plural
	1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person exclusive	1st person inclusive	2nd person
Verbal forms
Active
Indicative	asem	eresem	osem	orosem	îasem	pesem
Permissive	t'asem	t'eresem	t'osem	t'orosem	t'îasem	ta pesem
Imperative		esem				pesem
Negative indicative	n'asemi	n'eresemi	n'osemi	n'orosemi	n'îasemi	na pesemi
Negative permissive	t'asem umẽ	t'eresem umẽ	t'osem umẽ	t'orosem umẽ	t'îasem umẽ	ta pesem umẽ
Negative imperative		esem umẽ				pesem umẽ
Gerund
Affirmative	gûixema	esema	osema	orosema	îasema	pesema
Negative	gûixeme'yma	eseme'yma	oseme'yma	oroseme'yma	îaseme'yma	peseme'yma
Nominal forms
Infinitive
Affirmative	sema
Negative	seme'yma
Circumstantial
Affirmative	xe semi		i xemi	oré semi	îandé semi
Negative	xe seme'ymi		i xeme'ymi	oré seme'ymi	îandé seme'ymi

Descendants

• Nheengatu: semu, sému, sema (obsolete)

Further reading

• Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “sem”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 441, column 1

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ẽj̃

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsẽj̃/ [ˈsẽɪ̯̃]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsɐ̃j̃/

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

Preposition

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.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:sem.

Synonyms

• (not having): desprovido de, falto de

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

• sem mais nem menos
• sem que
• sem-noção

 

Descendants

• → Ambonese Malay: seng
• Macanese: sim

Romani

Verb

sem

1. first-person singular present indicative of si

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sem/

Preposition

sem (Cyrillic spelling сем)

1. except, apart from, besides

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek σῆμα (sêma).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sêːm/

Noun

sȇm m (Cyrillic spelling се̑м)

1. (semantics) the smallest unit of meaning

Further reading

• https://staznaci.com/sem
• “sem”, in Hrvatski jezični portal (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sə́m/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *sěmo.

Adverb

sem

1. hither, over here (to here)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *esmь.

Verb

sə̏m

1. first-person singular present of bíti

Further reading

• “sem”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2024

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English same.

Adjective

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

Zou

Noun

sem

1. hair

References

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