Deem

How to spell deem

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce deem

What does deem mean?

1. verbTo regard or consider something in a particular way, or to judge it to be a certain thing.

Deem in a sentence

• The committee may deem the proposal too expensive to approve.

• Auditors will deem the accounts accurate once the figures are checked.

Where does deem come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English word descending from the Old English verb 'dēman', which meant to judge, to pronounce a verdict, or to decide formally. It traces back to Proto-Germanic 'dōmijaną', a verb built directly on the noun 'dōmaz', meaning 'judgement' or 'decree', which survives in modern English as 'doom'. So at its root, to deem something was literally to pass judgement on it, and only over the centuries did the sense soften into the gentler modern meaning of to consider or regard as. The shared ancestry with 'doom' explains why the two words feel related: a 'deemster' (still a title for a judge on the Isle of Man) was once the person who pronounced the doom. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable, with the simple double 'e' representing the long vowel sound, which keeps it an easy word to write.

How the word is built

• deem (a single Old English root meaning to judge or pronounce; related to the noun 'doom' meaning judgement)