simmer

See also: Simmer

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪmɚ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪmə/
• Rhymes: -ɪmə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

From alteration of dialectal simper, from Middle English simperen (“to simmer”) [late 15^th c.], of possibly imitative origin. First attested in the intransitive sense. The noun is from the verb.

Alternative forms

• simber (obsolete)

Verb

simmer (third-person singular simple present simmers, present participle simmering, simple past and past participle simmered)

1. (intransitive) To cook or undergo heating slowly at or below the boiling point. [from mid 17^th c.]

   The soup simmered on the stove.

2. (transitive) To cause to cook or to cause to undergo heating slowly at or below the boiling point.

   Simmer the soup for five minutes, then serve.

   Synonym: coddle

3. (intransitive, figurative) To be on the point of breaking out into anger; to be agitated. [from 1760s]
4. (intransitive, figurative) To remain angry with someone or something past the point of exhaustion; to resign oneself to holding a grudge, especially after some failed attempts to resolve a situation.

   I tried to get through to him; all that's left for me to do is simmer.

Derived terms

• simmer down

Translations

(intransitive) to cook or undergo heating slowly

• Dutch: stoven (nl), sudderen (nl)
• Esperanto: boleti
• Finnish: hautua (fi)
• French: mijoter (fr), bouillotter (fr)
• Galician: guisar
• Georgian: გაცხელება (gacxeleba)
• German: sieden (de), köcheln (de)
• Greek: σιγοβράζω (el) (sigovrázo)
• Irish: suanbhruith
• Italian: sobbollire, cuocere a fuoco lento
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 은근히 끓이다 (eun'geunhi kkeurida)
• Norman: mitonner (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: trekke (no)

• Polish: gotować na wolnym ogniu (pl)
• Portuguese: aferventar (pt)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} булькать (ru) (bulʹkatʹ); ^{(please verify)} кипеть на медленном огне (kipetʹ na medlennom ogne)
• Scottish Gaelic: eàrr-bhruich
• Spanish: calentar (es), entibiar (es), cocerse a fuego lento
• Swedish: sjuda (sv)

(transitive) to cause to cook or undergo heating slowly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 煨 (zh) (wēi)

• Dutch: stoven (nl), sudderen (nl)
• Finnish: hauduttaa (fi)
• French: faire mijoter
• Galician: guisar
• German: sieden (de), köcheln (de)
• Greek: σιγοβράζω (el) (sigovrázo)
• Irish: suanbhruith
• Italian: scaldare (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norman: mitonner (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: trekke (no)

• Polish: gotować na wolnym ogniu (pl)
• Portuguese: aferventar (pt)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} варить, не доводя до кипения (varitʹ, ne dovodja do kipenija); ^{(please verify)} кипятить на медленном огне (kipjatitʹ na medlennom ogne)
• Scottish Gaelic: eàrr-bhruich
• Spanish: entibiar (es), cocer a fuego lento
• Swedish: sjuda (sv)

Noun

simmer

2. The state or process of simmering. [from early 19^th c.]

   The kettle was kept on the simmer.

Translations

process of simmering

• Finnish: hauduttaminen (fi)
• Greek: σιγοβράσιμο n (sigovrásimo)
• Portuguese: aferventamento m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: calentamiento (es) m
• Swedish: sjudning c

Etymology 2

From sim +‎ -er.

Noun

simmer (plural simmers)

1. (informal) Someone who plays a sim (a simulation game), particularly The Sims.

Anagrams

• merism, mimers

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪmɐ/

Verb

simmer

1. (colloquial, regional) Contraction of sind wir.

   Wann simmer denn da? ― When are we gonna be there?

Usage notes

This contraction is common throughout central Germany, southern Germany, and Austria. It is only occasionally heard in northern Germany.

See also

• hammer

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Scots

Alternative forms

• simer, somer, sumer

Etymology

From Old English sumor, from Proto-Germanic *sumaraz.

Noun

simmer (plural simmers)

1. summer

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West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian sumur, sumer, from Proto-Germanic *sumaraz.

Noun

simmer c (plural simmers, diminutive simmerke)

1. summer

Derived terms

• simmermoanne

Further reading

• “simmer”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011