seym

See also: Seym

Middle English

Alternative forms

• same, saym, sayme, seine, seyme
• (early) seim

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French saim (“fat”), from Vulgar Latin *sagīmen. See Modern English seam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæi̯m/

Noun

seym (uncountable)

1. fat, lard, grease
   • c. 1225, “Eahtuðe dale: þe uttre riwle”, in Ancrene Ƿiſſe (MS. Corpus Christi 402)‎^[1], Herefordshire, published c. 1235, folio 112, verso; republished at Cambridge: Parker Library on the Web, 2018 January:

     Ȝe ne ſchulen naƿt eoten fleſch ne ſeim · bute foꝛ muche ſecneſſe oðer hƿa ſe iſ ouer feble ·

     You shouldn't eat meat or fat, except in the case of extreme frailty or a strong illness.

Descendants

• English: seam, saim (dialectal, obsolete)
• Scots: seam, saim, sawm
• → Welsh: saim

References

• “seim(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.