seemingn.
/ˈsiːmɪŋ/ The action of seem v.2 in various senses.
1. † c. to (my) seeming, as it seems or appears to (me), as (I) think, in (my) opinion or judgement. Also in my seeming. Obsolete.
a. The action or fact of appearing to be (to the mind or to bodily sense), appearance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [noun] > seeming > action, fact, or quality
apparency1393
seeming1398
appearancec1430
seemingness1640
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum xi. xiv. (Tollemache MS.) By his [lightning's] sodeyne semynge he smyteþ here syȝte þat lokeþ þeron, and makeþ hem drede.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) v. xi. 102 The cursid Sathanas with a shepes symplenes in semyng come and hurteled with hym.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 66/1 Cemynge, or a cemys (P. or cemys), apparencia.
1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 72 The more we consider the sayde sentence of Socrates, the more wayes we finde out to auoide this vaine seeming.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII ii. iv. 106 My Lord, my Lord,..You signe your Place, and Calling, in full seeming, With Meekenesse and Humilitie. View more context for this quotation
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. i. 10 Sensible Qualities..are called presently after τίνα ἐν ἡμῖν Φάσματα, certain Phansies, Seemings, or Appearances in us.
1845 R. W. Hamilton Inst. Pop. Educ. x. 330 The events which are the most threatening in their seeming, speak to us of hope.
b. †by seeming, †to seeming, in seeming, in all seeming, to all appearance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [adverb] > to all appearance
by seemingc1369
to seeming1612
in seeminga1639
to all appearance1793
apparently1846
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 944 Wyth-outen hole or canel boon As be semynge had she noon.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur xvii. vii. 699 Thenne they lefte vp a clothe whiche was aboue the ground & there fond a ryche purse by semynge.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xxiii. 68 On euery toure a clocher of fyne golde be semynge.
1612 J. Chamberlain in R. F. Williams Birch's Court & Times James I (1848) (modernized text) I. 168 [His wife] would have accompanied him to the King's Bench, taking his cause, to seeming, very heartily.
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) iii. xxxix. 20 All this was done in seeming, only to bring them to thorough repentance for their sin.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 83 Ere his country to Crete freight corpses, a life in seeming.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > personal opinion > [adverb] > in my opinion
to (my) seemingc1386
to my supposinga1393
in my mindc1400
conceitc1405
in one's own conceit1483
in my fantasy1561
to my mind1600
in my seeming1604
in (also to) my conception1650
to my way of thinking1733
if you ask me1873
c1386 G. Chaucer Prioress's Tale 196 Tel me, what is thy cause for to synge Sith þat thy throte is kut to my semynge.
c1440 Generydes 4986 Right Inly fayre she was to his semyng.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) lv. sig. Mi Incontynente the ymage tourned towarde him, and to his seming it blusshed as red as sendall.
1604 S. Hieron Preachers Plea in Wks. (1620) I. 476 A very good way (in my seeming) to help the vnderstanding of common men.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 176 This night our horsemen set to watch, to their seeming did see Lampes burne at the points of their staves or speares in the middest of these lightning flashes.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 738 He ended..and in her ears the sound Yet rung of his perswasive words, impregn'd With Reason, to her seeming, and with Truth. View more context for this quotation
2. The form in which a person or thing seems or appears; look, aspect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [noun]
onseneeOE
bleea1000
shapeOE
ylikeOE
laitc1175
semblanta1225
sightc1275
fare1297
showingc1300
specea1325
parelc1330
guise1340
countenance1362
semblance?a1366
apparel1377
regardc1380
apparencec1384
imagec1384
spicec1384
overseeminga1398
kenninga1400
seemingc1400
visage1422
rinda1450
semenauntc1450
'pearance1456
outwardc1475
representation1489
favour?a1500
figurea1522
assemblant1523
prospect?1533
respect1535
visure1545
perceiverance1546
outwardshine1549
view1556
species1559
utter-shape1566
look1567
physiognomy1567
face1572
paintry1573
visor1575
mienc1586
superficies?1589
behaviour1590
aspect1594
complexion1597
confrontment1604
show1604
aira1616
beseeminga1616
formality1615
resemblancea1616
blush1620
upcomea1630
presentment1637
scheme1655
sensation1662
visibility1669
plumage1707
facies1727
remark1748
extrinsica1797
exterior1801
showance1820
the cut of one's jib1823
personnel1839
personal appearance1842
what-like1853
look-see1898
outwall1933
visuality1938
prosopon1947
c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 47 For oon sect þat er namyd ypatetiks affermes þat he steigh to þe emperien heuene yn þe semynge of fir.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iv. xi We must kepe our self fro all them whiche vnder fayre semynge haue a fals herte.
1632 R. Brome Northern Lasse ii. iv I present her to your judgment, whether her out~ward seeming may deserve such scorn.
1765 H. Walpole Castle of Otranto i Your behaviour is above your seeming.
1814 Ld. Byron Corsair ii. xii. 50 He slept in calmest seeming—for his breath Was hush'd so deep—Ah! happy if in death!
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People vi. §4. 305 Words which show the tenderness that lay beneath the stern outer seeming of the man.
3. External appearance considered as deceptive, or as distinguished from reality; an illusion, a semblance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [noun] > seeming
semblant?c1225
coloura1325
countenance1362
appearancec1386
seemc1440
fair seeming1484
resemblant1485
seeming1576
apparition1613
semblancea1616
imposture1643
verisimile1652
seemingness1656
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > fancy or fantastic notion > deceptive fancy or illusion > [noun]
fantasyc1325
fairyc1330
illusionc1374
mazec1390
phantasma1398
dream1489
phantom1557
seeming1576
phantasma1598
fancy1609
hallucinationa1652
phantastry1656
phasm1659
fata Morgana1818
dreamland1832
stardust1906
1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas 229 And since myselfe (now pride of youth is past) Do love to be, and let al seeming passe, Since I desire, to see my selfe in deed [etc].
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iii. i. 307 That we were all, as some would seeme to bee From our faults, as faults from seeming free. View more context for this quotation
1816 Ld. Byron Sketch 59 A plain blunt show of briefly-spoken seeming, To hide her bloodless heart's soul-harden'd scheming.
1891 F. Thompson Sister-songs (1895) 35 Even so Its lovely gleamings Seemings show Of things not seemings.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
seemingadj.
/ˈsiːmɪŋ/ That seems, in various senses of the verb.† 1. Suitable, beseeming, fitting; according. Obsolete.† 2. Probable, likely. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > [adjective]
goodOE
proper?c1225
felea1250
featc1325
seeming1338
rightful1340
thriftyc1386
sittingc1390
duea1393
truea1398
goodly1398
convenienta1400
wella1400
seemc1400
likelyc1425
fitc1440
tallc1440
befalling1542
fittinga1616
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 51 Bataile bituene vs wille not be semand.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 386 For sarasenes han somewhat semynge to owre bileue. For þei loue and bileue in o persone almiȝty.
c1440 York Myst. xvii. 274 Insens to þi seruis is semand.
?1548 tr. P. Viret Verie Familiare Expos. Art. Christian Faieth sig. Bviijv The name of father..is semynge vnto hym [God] for dyuers causes and reasons.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 144 The Buzzard..Invites the feather'd Nimrods of his Race, To hide the thinness of their Flock from Sight, And all together make a seeming, goodly Flight.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > probability, likelihood > [adjective]
likelya1400
seemlya1400
probable?a1425
allowablec1443
seeming?c1450
apt1528
topical1594
liking1611
suspicable1651
presumable1655
feasible1656
suspected1706
in the cards1764
on the cards1788
in the dice1844
liable1888
better-than-chance1964
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 6517 Sa Eata, it is semand, Was þan bischop of haly eland.
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa (new ed.) I. Pref. sig. A 2 And where I have found any contradictions..I have gon according to the seeming'st Truth.
3.
a. Apparent to the senses or to the mind, as distinct from what is.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > [adjective]
fairOE
seeming1340
feignedc1374
colourablea1400
whitea1413
coloured?c1425
satiablec1487
provable1588
specious1611
well-seeminga1616
superficial1616
meretricious1633
glosseda1640
probable1639
spurious1646
fucatious1654
ostensible1762
well-looking1811
semblant1840
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 5290 Þis taken, als I trowe, sal noght be Þe sam cros, ne þe sam tre,..Bot a taken of þat cros semande.
a1400–50 Wars Alex. 1252 Sa stithe a steuyn in þe stoure of stedis & ellis, As it was semand to siȝt as all þe soyle trymbled.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. Cc.iii Oft craft can cause the man to make a semyng show Of hart with dolour all distreined, where griefe did neuer grow.
1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme i. ii. 3 The seeming ashes may be no ashes.
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Sigismonda & Guiscardo in Fables 125 A seeming Widow, and a secret Bride.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xix. 213 Miss Wilmot's reception [of him] was mixed with seeming neglect, and yet I could perceive she acted a studied part.
a1856 H. Miller Testimony of Rocks (1857) v. 194 That his seeming argument was no argument, but merely a sort of verbal play.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 263 He asserts the seeming paradox that [etc.]
1883 R. W. Dixon Mano ii. iv. 74 We came upon him riding loftily, Clad in his knightly arms without disguise, No seeming pilgrim now.
b. In combination with nouns.
ΚΠ
1598 J. Marston Certaine Satyres in Metamorph. Pigmalions Image 43 Diomedes Iades were not so bestiall As this same seeming-saint, vile Canniball.
1654 W. Streat (title) The dividing of the Hooff: or, Seeming-Contradictions throughout sacred Scriptures.
1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. 1st Ser. iii. 163 Those astronomic wonders of poise and counterpoise, of planetary law and cometary seeming exception, in his metres.
4. Used adverbially with other adjectives to form hyphenated compounds with the sense of ‘having a (specified) appearance’.In some of these formations the writers may have intended seeming as present participle with the second adjective as predicate, though such a use would be grammatically abnormal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [adjective] > having specific appearance
huedc1000
beseemeda1250
lookingc1330
well-faringc1330
well-beseenc1374
farranda1400
homely?a1439
ill-favoured1530
seeming1590
looked1597
ill-looking1633
complexioned1639
ill-lookeda1640
leonine1660
plain-looking1744
natural-looking1810
anthropoid1881
thuggish-looking1903
new look1950
c1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. xii. 55 And if he oonly shew hym semand religious, and yn his werkys be an euyl doere..he shal be refusyd of god and of þe folk despysed.]
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. ii. sig. B6v With chaunge of chear the seeming simple maid Let fal her eien.
a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 401 As commonly all seeming-religious Hypocrites bee, they are charged to have beene devourers of Orphans goods.
1745 E. Young Consolation 56 What Knots are ty'd? How soon are they dissolv'd, And set the seeming marry'd Planets free?
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II ii. xxxii. 77 Little knew she that seeming marble heart,..Was not unskilful in the spoiler's art.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna iii. x. 62 Whilst I had watched the motions of the crew With seeming careless glance.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xlviii. 71 But blame not thou the winds that make The seeming-wanton ripple break. View more context for this quotation
1899 J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris II. 205 He was continually seeking refuge from it in dreams of some settled and seeming-changeless order.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.c1369adj.1338