semblance

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English semblaunce,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French semblance (“likeness, appearance”), Anglo-Norman semblaunce,^{[6][5][2][4][7]} from sembler (“to seem, appear, resemble”) and the suffix -ance.^[6][3][8][9] Etymonline and Klein derive it through semblant, the present participle of the verb.^[5][4] The verb comes from Latin simulō (“to imitate, make like”), also similō,^{[6][8][10][11]} from similis (“like”).^{[6][5][7][11]} The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the first third of the 12th century, already meaning likeness, form, countenance and resemblance.^[12] It replaced the older noun semblant, borrowed from Old French probably before 1200, which is not recorded after the mid-17th century.^[6][9][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fact of appearing to view, in the phrase in semblance, visible: before 1325, in Cursor Mundi.^[6][14] Etymonline dates it to about 1300.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, "appearing to view", died out in Middle English.^[14][9] Outward appearance or form is recorded from about 1366, in the Romaunt of the Rose,^[14][5] and the likeness or image of something, judged against another, from Chaucer's Boece (about 1374–80).^[14][6] A person's appearance or demeanour, expressing or hiding his feelings, followed about 1400,^[14][5] and an apparition in 1489.^[14] The sense "a mere or false appearance" is first found in Shakespeare's Henry V,^[14][6][5] a person or thing resembling another in 1594, and likeness or resemblance in 1576.^[14] In negative phrases, without the semblance of, the word has meant "even the bare appearance" since 1843.^[14][9] Johnson (1755) gave likeness, resemblance and representation first.^[15]

Timeline

• before 1325 – the fact of appearing to view (obsolete).^[6][14]
• c. 1366 – the outward appearance of a person or thing.^[14]
• c. 1374 – the form or likeness of a person or thing.^[14][6]
• c. 1400 – a person's appearance or demeanour.^[14][5]
• 1489 – an apparition.^[14]
• 1576 – likeness, resemblance.^[14]
• 1594 – a person or thing that resembles another.^[14]
• 1599 – a false or deceptive appearance, in Shakespeare's Henry V.^[6]
• 1843 – the bare appearance, in negative phrases.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. An outward appearance or show, especially one without the reality behind it: They kept up a semblance of calm.^[7][3][14]
2. The least appearance or trace of something: a room without any semblance of order.^[3][14][9]
3. A likeness, image or copy of something.^[7][3][14]
4. Resemblance or similarity.^[3][14]
5. An apparition or phantom form.^[3][14][9]
6. (archaic) A person's face, countenance or bearing.^[3][9]

Related words

• resemblance
• resemble
• semblant
• similar
• simulate
• same

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.