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seam

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seam¹

  • /ˈsiːm/
  • [ˈsɪi̯m]

Sounds like seem, seme · Rhymes with -iːm

Where it comes from

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

Cognate with Dutch zoom (“hem, edge”), German Saum (“hem, edge”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål søm (“seam”), Norwegian Nynorsk saum (“seam”), Swedish söm (“seam”).

noun seams · seme

  1. A folded-back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric. 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. A thin stratum, especially of an economically viable material such as coal or mineral. He even roused himself to go to the mines once more: […]. He sat there, crippled, in a tub, with the under-ground manager showing him the seam with a powerful torch.
  4. The stitched equatorial seam of a cricket ball; the sideways movement of a ball when it bounces on the seam.
  5. 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. figuratively A line of junction; a joint. Precepts should be so finely wrought together[…]that no coarse seam may discover where they join.

verb seams · seaming · seamed · seme

  1. To put together with a seam. Thus, seamed with many scars, / Bursting these prison bars, / Up to its native stars / My soul ascended!
  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. Seam'd o'er with wounds which his own sabre gave.
  4. To crack open along a seam. Later their lips began to parch and seam.
  5. Of the ball, to move sideways after bouncing on the seam.
  6. Of a bowler, to make the ball move thus.

seam²

  • /ˈsiːm/
  • [ˈsɪi̯m]

Sounds like seem, seme · Rhymes with -iːm

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English sem, from Old English sēam (“a burden”), from Latin sagma (“saddle”).

noun 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. 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.

seam³

  • /ˈsiːm/
  • [ˈsɪi̯m]

Sounds like seem, seme · Rhymes with -iːm

Where it comes from

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

noun saim

  1. UK, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable Grease; tallow; lard. shall the proud lord That bastes his arrogance with his own seam And never suffers matter of the world

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: bed, furrow, wrinkle, crease, crinkle, line, stitching, sewing, seamstress, diaper, dressmaking, tailoring, sheet, tarpaulin, buffer, tarp

Translations

Every language

noun folded back and stitched piece of fabric

Españolcostura, cosedura
日本語縫い目 nuime
中文接縫 /接缝 jiēfèng
Portuguêscostura
Françaiscouture
DeutschSaum, Naht
Italianocucitura, costura
Românăcusătură
Русскийшов šov
العربيةدَرْز darz
עבריתתפר téfer

noun suture

日本語縫合 hōgō
中文縫 /缝 féng, 縫合 /缝合 fénghé
Portuguêssutura
Françaissuture
DeutschNaht
Italianosutura
Русскийшов šov

noun thin stratum of mineral

Españolveta
Portuguêsfilão, veio
Françaisveine
DeutschFlöz, Schicht
Italianovena, filone
Русскийфлец flec

noun a joint formed by mating two separate sections of a material

Portuguêsjunta
Françaisjointure

noun a line or depression left by a cut or wound

Españolcosturón
Portuguêscicatriz
Françaiscicatrice
DeutschNarbe
Italianocicatrice
Русскийрубец rubec

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Cite this
MLA

"seam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/seam. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

seam. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/seam

Chicago

"seam." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/seam.

BibTeX
@misc{seam_2026,
  title = {seam},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/seam},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}