sem- / Indo-European roots
Examples of words with the root sem-: -some, anacoluthon, anomalous, assemble, assimilate, ensemble, hamadryad, haploid, haplorrhine, hendecasyllabic, hendiadys, henotheism, hetero-, homeo-, homily, homo-, homolographic, hyphen, resemble, same, Samhain, samhita, samizdat, samovar, samsara, sandhi, sangha, Sanskrit, seem, seemly.
sem-1
One; also adverbially "as one" together with.
▲ Derivatives include simultaneous, hyphen, acolyte, simple.
I. Full-grade form *sem-.
1. a. hendecasyllabic, hendiadys, henotheism, hyphen from Greek heis (< nominative singular masculine *hen-s < *hem-s), one; b. Greek he- in hekaton, one hundred (? dissimilated from *hem-katon; see dekm̥). Both a and b from Greek *hem-.
2. Suffixed form *sem-el-. simultaneous; assemble, ensemble from Latin simul, at the same time.
3. Suffixed form *sem-golo-. single from Latin singulus, alone, single.
4. Compound *sem-per- (*per, during, for; see per1) sempre; sempervivum, sempiternal from Latin semper, always, ever (< "once for all").
II. O-grade form *som-.
1. bonze, kalanchoe, sambal, samhita, samsara, sandhi, sangha, Sankhya, sannyasi, Sanskrit from Sanskrit sam, together.
2. Suffixed form *som-o-. a. same from Old Norse samr, same, from Germanic *samaz, same; b. homeo-, homo-; anomalous from Greek homos, same; c. homily from Greek homīlos, crowd.
3. Suffixed form *som-alo-. homolographic from Greek homalos, like, even, level.
III. Lengthened o-grade form *sōm-.
1. Suffixed form *sōm-i-. seem, seemly from Old Norse sœ̄mr, fitting, agreeable (< "making one" "reconciling"), from Germanic *sōmiz.
2. Suffixed lengthened o-grade form *sōm-o-. samizdat, samovar from Russian sam(o)-, self.
IV. Zero-grade form *sm̥-.
1. acolyte, anacoluthon from Greek compound akolouthos, accompanying (-kolouthos, from o-grade of keleuthos, way, path), from ha-, a-, together.
2. Compound form *sm̥-plo- (*-plo-,-fold; see pel-2) a. simple from Latin simplus, simple; b. haploid, haplorrhine from Greek haploos, haplous, single, simple.
3. Suffixed form *sm̥m-o-. a. some from Old English sum, one, a certain one; b. -some1 from Old English -sum, -like. Both a and b from Germanic *sumaz.
4. Suffixed form *sm̥m-alo-. similar; assimilate, resemble from Latin similis, of the same kind, like.
5. Compound *sm̥-kēro-, of one growing (see ker-2)
6. Suffixed form *sm̥-tero-. hetero- from Greek heteros (earlier hateros), one of two, other.
7. Compound *sm̥-plek-, "one-fold" simple (*-plek-,-fold; see plek-) semplice, simplex, simplicity from Latin simplex, simple.
8. Extended form *sm̥ma. hamadryad from Greek hama, together with, at the same time.
[Pokorny 2. sem- 902.]
sem-2
Summer.
(oldest form *semh2-).1. Suffixed zero-grade form *sm̥ə-aro-. summer1 from Old English sumor, summer, from Germanic *sumaraz.
2. Suffixed zero-grade form *sm̥ə-oni-. Samhain from Old Irish samain, Samhain (for the discrepancy in time of occurrence, Samhain taking place in the autumn, compare English Indian summer).
[Pokorny 3. sem- 905.]
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