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semblance

noun
/ˈsɛmblən(t)s/US

Etymology

From Middle English semblaunce (“outward appearance, form; appearance without reality; condition or fact of being apparent; symbolic image; facial expression, countenance; conduct, manner; image, likeness; analogy, comparison”), from Anglo-Norman semblaunce and Old French semblance (modern French semblance), from semblant, the present participle of sembler (“to appear; to resemble, seem”), from Late Latin similāre, the present active infinitive of similō, a variant of Latin simulō (“to act or behave as if; to imitate, simulate”), from similis (“like resembling, similar to”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; together”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). By surface analysis, semble + -ance (suffix forming nouns denoting conditions or states).

  1. derived from *sem-✻ — “one; together”
  2. derived from simulō — “to act or behave as if; to imitate, simulate”
  3. derived from similāre
  4. derived from semblance
  5. derived from semblaunce
  6. inherited from semblaunce — “outward appearance, form; appearance without reality; condition or fact of being apparent; symbolic image; facial expression, countenance; conduct, manner; image, likeness; analogy, comparison”

Definitions

  1. The outward appearance or form of a person or thing.

    • Oft haue I ſeene a timely-parted Ghoſt, / Of aſhy ſemblance, meager, pale, and bloodleſſe, […]
    • Be you the Souldier, for you likeſt are / For manly ſemblance, and ſmall skill in vvarre: […]
    • Perhaps my ſemblance might deceive the truth, / That I to manhood am arriv'd ſo near, / And invvard ripenes doth much leſs appear, / That ſom more timely-happy ſpirits indu'th.

  2. Followed by of

    Followed by of: a person or thing that is seen; an apparition, a vision.

    • Still she bears her weird [charm or spell] alone, / In the Valley of Saint John. / And her semblance oft will seem / Mingling in a champion's dream, / Of her weary lot to plain, / And crave his aid to burst her chain.
    • England, seated far north in the turbid sea, now visits my dreams in the semblance of a vast and well-manned ship, which mastered the winds and rode proudly over the waves.

  3. A person's non-verbal behaviour or demeanour which shows their feelings, thoughts, etc.,…

    A person's non-verbal behaviour or demeanour which shows their feelings, thoughts, etc., or which is faked to hide such true feelings, thoughts, etc.

    • And euer vvhen the Prince vnto him ſpake, / He louted lovvly, as did him becum, / And humble homage did vnto him make, / Midſt ſorrovv ſhevving ioyous ſemblance for his ſake.
    • VVeele haue a ſvvaſhing and a marſhall outſide, / As manie other manniſh covvards haue, / That doe outface it vvith their ſemblances.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. In the form make semblance

      In the form make semblance: an act of appearing; an appearance, a manifestation; also, a false appearance, a pretence.

      • [T]hey all make ſemblance of loathing Piero, and knit their fiſts at him; […]
      • [H]ee vvas ſlain by a ſouldior, that making ſemblance to deliver unto him the keies of the Caſtle hanging at the head of a ſpeare, ranne him into the body vvith it.
      • His vvords make ſemblance as if hee vvere magnanimouſly exerciſing himſelf, […]

    2. The quality or state of being similar

      The quality or state of being similar; likeness, resemblance, similarity.

      • I thought no body had been like me, but I ſee there vvas ſome Semblance 'tvvixt this good man and I, […]
      • The Reins [of a horse-drawn coach] vvere cloath’d in vvhiteſt ſilk, to hold / Some ’ſemblance to the Hand vvhich them controll’d.

    3. The chance of something happening

      The chance of something happening; likelihood, probability.

      • And yet ſome ſemblance there is that it [a law] vvas yet more ancient, even in the time of Hen[ry] I. if I miſtake not the ſence of that clauſe in his lavvs concerning vagabonds; […]

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at semblance. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01semblance02non-verbal03written04write05book06pictures07movie08appearance09apparition10ghost

A definitional loop anchored at semblance. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at semblance

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA