# deem

Pronunciation: say "DEEM" US /dim/, UK /diːm/

## Verb

1. To regard or consider someone or something as being a certain way, according to one's beliefs or estimation.
   - Simple: To consider someone or something to be a certain way, based on what you believe.
   - _Critics deem the new policy a step backward for public health._
   - _The committee deemed the application incomplete and returned it._
2. To form or hold an opinion after consideration; to suppose or judge something to be the case.
   - Simple: To think or believe something after thinking it over carefully.
   - _Many economists deem a recession likely within the year._
   - _The board deemed it necessary to postpone the vote._

## Verb

3. To pass judgment on someone; to condemn or sentence a person. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To judge someone and decide their punishment.
4. To adjudge or decree something formally; to issue an official ruling or order on a matter. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To officially decide or order something by law.
5. To dispense justice or administer the law; to carry out legal authority over a matter. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To carry out justice or apply the law.
   - _In each shire the reeve would deem the law on the king's behalf._
   - _The bishop deemed justice in disputes between the villages._

## Noun

6. An opinion, judgment, or surmise; a view held about something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A thought or belief about what is true.
   - _Her deem was that the stranger meant no harm._
   - _The old sailor gave his deem on the coming weather._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5** — From Middle English dēmen ("to judge, condemn, sentence, or believe"), from Old English dēman ("to decide, decree, deem"), going back through Proto-Germanic *dōmijaną ("to judge, think") to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to set, put." It is related to the word 'doom' and to Swedish döma and Dutch doemen.
**Meaning 6** — From Middle English deme, formed from the verb (see etymology above).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/deem (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).