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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers lacking Unicode^® support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and Unicode 2) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 2. sem- 'one, some, together'

Semantic Fields: One; to Join, Unite

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Old Irish:	-som	enc	that one	RPN
English
Old English:	same	adv	also, similarly	RPN
	sim(b)el/symbel	adj/adv	continual, perpetual; ever, always	ASD
	simle	adv	ever, always	LRC
	-sum	sfx	-some	W7
	sum	indef.adj/pron	some	LRC
Middle English:	acolite	n	acolyte	W7
	alsaume	adv	all together	MEV
	as(s)emblen/as(s)emlen	vb	to assemble	W7/CDC
	assembly	n	assembly, joining of battle	MEV
	assimilaten	vb	to assimilate	AHD
	bisemen	vb	to beseem	AHD
	omelie	n	homily	W7
	resemblen	vb	to resemble	W7
	sam(e)/samen/somyn	adv	together	MEV
	same	adj	same	W7
	semely	adj	seemly	W7
	semen	vb	to seem	W7
	simple	adj	simple	W7
	simplicite	n	simplicity	W7
	single	adj	single	W7
	-som	sfx	-some	W7
	som	indef.adj/pron	some	W7
	syn-	pfx	syn-	W7
English:	acolyte	n	minister's assistant in liturgical service	AHD/W7
	anacoluthon	n	syntactic incoherence/inconsistency within sentence	AHD/W7
	anomalous	adj	abnormal, deviating from general rule/method/analogy	AHD/W7
	assemble	vb	to convoke, collect in/as one place/group	AHD/W7
	assembly	n	set of persons gathered for purpose	W7
	assimilate	vb	to take in as nourishment, absorb into system	AHD/W7
	beseem	vb	to befit, be fitting/becoming/suitable	W7
	ensemble	n	group constituting a whole/producing single effect	AHD/W7
	haploid	adj	having half the number of chromosomes characteristic of somatic cells	AHD/W7
	hendecasyllabic	adj	re: (verses of) 11 syllables	AHD/W7
	heter(o)-	pfx	other, different	AHD
	heterodox	adj	contrary to/different from acknowledged standard	AHD/W7
	heteroecious	adj	passing different life-cycle stages on alternate/unrelated hosts	AHD/W7
	heterogeneous	adj	mixed, consisting of dissimilar parts	AHD/W7
	heteronym	n	two/more words with same spelling but different meanings/pronunciations	AHD
	heteronymous	adj	re: heteronym	AHD
	homeo-	pfx	like, similar	AHD
	homily	n	religious discourse before congregation	AHD/W7
	hom(o)-	pfx	same, like	AHD
	homolographic	adj	preserving mutual relations of parts	AHD/W7
	homosexual	adj/n	(re:) individual attracted to same sex	TLL
	hyphen	n	punctuation mark (-)	AHD/W7
	resemble	vb.trans	to be like/similar to	AHD/W7
	sambal	n	spicy condiment of Malaysia/Indonesia	AHD
	same	adj	resembling in all relevant respects	AHD/W7
	samhita	n	collection of sacred/devotional Sanskrit hymns	AHD
	samizdat	n	secret publication/distribution of Soviet-banned literature	AHD
	Samkhya/Sankhya	prop.n	orthodox Hindu philosophy, lit. based on calculation	LRC
	samsara	n	eternal cycle: birth, misery, death	AHD/W7
	seem	vb.intrans	to appear, give impression of being	AHD/W7
	seemly	adj	handsome, good-looking	AHD/W7
	semplice	adj	simple, unaffected	AHD/W7
	sempre	adv	always	AHD/W7
	Simbelmynë	prop.n	a.k.a. Evermind in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	similar	adj	marked by resemblance/correspondence	AHD/W7
	simple	adj	innocent, free from guile	AHD/W7
	simplex	adj	single, simple	AHD/W7
	simplicity	n	state of being simple/uncompounded	AHD/W7
	simultaneous	adj	coincident, existing/occurring at same time	AHD/W7
	single	adj	solitary, singular; unmarried	AHD/W7
	-some	adj.sfx	characterized by (specified) thing/state/action/quality	AHD/W7
	some	indef.adj/pron	re: one unknown/undetermined/unspecified unit/thing	AHD/W7
	soviet	n	elected governmental council in Communist country	AHD/W7
	sym-/syn-	pfx	(along/together) with	AHD/W7
	synalepha	n	blending of successive vowels into one syllable	AHD
	syngeneic	adj	genetically identical, closely related, immunologically compatible	AHD
	synonymous	adj	having same/similar meaning	AHD
	synost(e)osis	n	union via bone, fusion of normally separate bones	CDC/AHD
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	sum	pron.indef	some	ASD
Old Saxon:	sum	pron.indef	some	ASD
Old High German:	-sam	sfx	-some	W7
	sama	adj	same	W7
	samo	adj	same	RPN
	sum	adj/pron.indef	some	W7/ASD
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	sama	vb	to beseem	LRC
	saman	adv	together	LRC
	samr	adj	same	LRC
	samr	adj	same	W7
	soemiligr	adj	seemly, becoming	W7
	soemr	adj	seemly, becoming	W7
	sóma, sómad	vb	to beseem, become	LRC
	sumr	adj	some	LRC
Icelandic:	sumr	pron.indef	some	ASD
Danish:	som	conj	as	TLL
Swedish:	som	conj	as	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	sama	adj	same	LRC
	sinteins	adj	daily	LRC
	sums	pron.indef	some, one	LRC
Italic
Latin:	adsimilare/assimilare	vb	to feign, imitate, simulate	CDC
	assimilare	vb	to assemble, bring together	CDC
	assimulo, assimulare	vb	to feign, make similar	W7
	hendecasyllabus	n.masc	line of eleven syllables	W7
	insimul	adv	at same time	W7
	semper	adv	ever, always	W7
	sim-	pfx	one	W7
	similis	adj	like, similar	RPN
	similo, similare	vb	to copy	W7
	simplex, simplicis	adj	single, simple, unmixed	W7
	simplicitas, simplicitatis	n.fem	simplicity	W7
	simplus	adj	plain, single	W7
	simul	adv	together, at same time	LRC
	simulis	adj	like	W7
	simulo, simulare	vb	to feign, copy, represent	W7
	singulus	adj	only one	W7
	syn-	pfx	syn-	W7
Vulgar Latin:	assimulo, assimulare	vb	to compare, imitate	W7
Late Latin:	anacoluthon	adj	inconsistent in logic	W7
	anomalus	adj	anomalous	AHD
	homilia	n.fem	discourse, homily	W7
Middle Latin:	assimulare	vb	to assemble, bring together	CDC
Medieval Latin:	acoluthus	adj	that follows	W7
	acolytus	n	acolyte	AHD
	assimilatus	vb.ptc	assimilated	W7
	assimilo, assimilare	vb	to assimilate	W7
	simultaneus	adj	simultaneous, at same time	W7
Old Spanish:	asemblar	vb	to assemble	CDC
Old French:	acolite	n.masc	follower	W7
	assemblee	n	assembly, joining of battle	MEV
	as(s)embler/assambler	vb	to gather, assemble	W7/CDC
	resembler	vb	to resemble	W7
	sembler	vb	to seem, be like	W7
	simple	adj	plain, artless, uncomplicated	W7
	syn-	pfx	syn-	W7
Middle French:	omelie	n.fem	discourse, homily	W7
	resembler	vb	to resemble	W7
	simplicité	n.fem	simplicity	W7
French:	ensemble	adv	together	W7
	similaire	adj	similar	W7
Old Occitan:	assemblar/asemlar	vb	to assemble	CDC
Italian:	assemblare/assembrare	vb	to assemble	CDC
	semplice	adj	simple, unmixed	W7/CID
	sempre	adv	always, ever	W7/CID
Baltic
Lithuanian:	sù	prep	with	LRC
Slavic
Old Church Slavonic:	samu'	adj	same	RPN
	samu'	pron	self, oneself	LRC
	su'	prep	with	LRC
	su'vezati, su'vezajo, su'vezajesi	vb	to tie, bind	LRC
Russian:	so	prep	with	W7
Albanian
Albanian:	gjith	adj	all, whole, entire	IEW
	gjithmonë	adv	always	LRC
Hellenic
Greek:	akolouthos	adj	following	W7
	áma	adv	at the same time	LRC
	hama	adv	together	W7
	hame	adv	somehow	W7
	anakolouthon	adj	inconsistency in logic	W7
	anakolouthos	adj	inconsistent in logic	W7
	anomalos	adj	uneven	W7
	haploeides	adj	single	W7
	haploos	adj	single	W7
	aphomoioô	vb	to make like	LRC
	eîs	nbr/adj	one	LRC
	heis	nbr	one	W7
	hen	nbr.neut	one	W7
	hendeka	nbr	eleven	W7
	keleuthos	n.fem	path	W7
	homalos	adj	even	W7
	homilein	vb	to consort with, address	W7
	omiléô	vb	to consort with, busy oneself with	LRC
	omilía	n.fem	being together	LRC
	homilia	n.fem	conversation, discourse, reunion	W7
	homilos	n.masc	crowd, assembly	W7
	ómoios	adj	like, similar	LRC
	omoíôs	adv	similarly	LRC
	omós	adj	same	RPN
	homos	adj	same	W7
	omoû	adv	together	LRC
	oudamoû	adv	nowhere	LRC
	oudamôs	adv	by no means	LRC
	sún	prep	with	LRC
	syn	prep	(together) with	W7
	hyphen	adv	in a whole	W7
Late Greek:	anakolouthon	adj	inconsistency in logic	W7
	homilia	n.fem	homily	W7
Medieval Greek:	akolouthos	adj	that follows	W7
Armenian
Classical Armenian:	amenayn	adj	all, every	LRC
	amenayn	n	everyone	LRC
	hez	adj	meek	LRC
	mi	adj	one	LRC
Iranian
Old Persian:	hama-	adj	same, equal	RPN
Avestan:	hama-	adj	like	RPN
Indic
Sanskrit:	samsara	n	lit. flowing/passing through	W7
	samá-h	adj	same, equal	RPN
	sám	adv	together	LRC
	samkhya	n	Samkhya: salvation by knowing matter vs. soul distinction	W7

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
adj	=	adjective
adv	=	adverb(ial)
conj	=	conjunction
enc	=	enclitic
fem	=	feminine (gender)
indef	=	indefinite
intrans	=	intransitive
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
nbr	=	number
neut	=	neuter (gender)
pfx	=	prefix
prep	=	preposition
pron	=	pronoun
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
sfx	=	suffix
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
CID	=	Cassell's Italian Dictionary (1958)
IEW	=	Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
MEV	=	J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
RPN	=	Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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