seam

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See also: seám

English

A flat seam in fabric
Seams of coal

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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(deprecated template usage) From Middle English seem, seme, from Old English sēam (“seam”), from Proto-Germanic *saumaz (“that which is sewn”).

Noun

seam (plural seams)

  1. (sewing) A folded-back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric.
    • Template:RQ:Chrsty Atbgrfy
      Mind you, clothes were clothes in those days. […]  Frills, ruffles, flounces, lace, complicated seams and gores: not only did they sweep the ground and have to be held up in one hand elegantly as you walked along, but they had little capes or coats or feather boas.
  2. A suture.
  3. (geology) A thin stratum, especially of an economically viable material such as coal or mineral.
  4. (cricket) The stitched equatorial seam of a cricket ball; the sideways movement of a ball when it bounces on the seam.
  5. (construction) A joint formed by mating two separate sections of materials.
    Seams can be made or sealed in a variety of ways, including adhesive bonding, hot-air welding, solvent welding, using adhesive tapes, sealant, etc.
  6. A line or depression left by a cut or wound; a scar; a cicatrix.
  7. (figurative) A line of junction; a joint.
    • (Can we date this quote by Joseph Addison and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Precepts should be so finely wrought together […] that no coarse seam may discover where they join.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2

From the noun seam.

Verb

seam (third-person singular simple present seams, present participle seaming, simple past and past participle seamed)

  1. To put together with a seam.
  2. To make the appearance of a seam in, as in knitting a stocking; hence, to knit with a certain stitch, like that in such knitting.
  3. To mark with a seam or line; to scar.
    • (Can we date this quote by Alexander Pope and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Seamed o'er with wounds which his own sabre gave.
  4. To crack open along a seam.
    • (Can we date this quote by L. Wallace and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Later their lips began to parch and seam.
  5. (cricket) Of the ball, to move sideways after bouncing on the seam.
  6. (cricket) Of a bowler, to make the ball move thus.
Quotations
  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Skeleton in Armor:
    Thus, seamed with many scars, / Bursting these prison bars, / Up to its native stars / My soul ascended!

Etymology 3

From Old English sēam (“a burden”), from Latin sagma (“saddle”).

Noun

seam (plural seams)

  1. (historical) An old English measure of grain, containing eight bushels.
  2. (historical) An old English measure of glass, containing twenty-four weys of five pounds, or 120 pounds.
    • 1952, L. F. Salzman, Building in England, p. 175.
      As white glass was 6s. the 'seam', containing 24 'weys' (pise, or pondera) of 5 lb., and 2½ lb. was reckoned sufficient to make one foot of glazing, the cost of glass would be 1½d. leaving 2½d. for labour.

Etymology 4

From Middle English seime (“grease”), from Old French saim (“fat”). Compare French saindoux (“lard”).

Noun

seam (plural seams)

  1. (UK, dialect, obsolete) grease; tallow; lard
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

References

Further reading

Anagrams

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *saumaz.

Pronunciation

Noun

sēam m

  1. seam

Declension

Declension of seam (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative sēam sēamas
accusative sēam sēamas
genitive sēames sēama
dative sēame sēamum

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: seme, seem
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