seam

Etymology 1

From Middle English seem, seme, from Old English sēam (“seam”), from Proto-West Germanic *saum, from Proto-Germanic *saumaz (“that which is sewn”).

noun

1. (sewing) A folded-back and stitched piece of fabric; especially, the stitching that joins two or more pieces of fabric.
2. A suture.
3. (geology) A thin stratum, especially of an economically viable material such as coal or mineral.
4. (cricket) The stitched equatorial seam of a cricket ball; the sideways movement of a ball when it bounces on the seam.
5. (construction, nautical) A joint formed by mating two separate sections of materials.
   Seams can be made or sealed in a variety of ways, including adhesive bonding, hot-air welding, solvent welding, using adhesive tapes, sealant, etc.
6. A line or depression left by a cut or wound; a scar; a cicatrix.
7. (figurative) A line of junction; a joint.
   Precepts should be so finely wrought together[…]that no coarse seam may discover where they join. 1697, Joseph Addison, Essay on Virgil's Georgics

Etymology 2

From the noun seam.

verb

1. To put together with a seam.
   Thus, seamed with many scars, / Bursting these prison bars, / Up to its native stars / My soul ascended! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Skeleton in Armor
2. To make the appearance of a seam in, as in knitting a stocking; hence, to knit with a certain stitch, like that in such knitting.
3. To mark with a seam or line; to scar.
4. To crack open along a seam.
   Later their lips began to parch and seam. 1880, Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
5. (cricket) Of the ball, to move sideways after bouncing on the seam.
6. (cricket) Of a bowler, to make the ball move thus.

Etymology 3

From Old English sēam (“a burden”), from Latin sagma (“saddle”).

noun

1. (historical) An old English measure of grain, containing eight bushels.
2. (historical) An old English measure of glass, containing twenty-four weys of five pounds, or 120 pounds.
   As white glass was 6s. the 'seam', containing 24 'weys' (pise, or pondera) of 5 lb., and 2½ lb. was reckoned sufficient to make one foot of glazing, the cost of glass would be 1½d. leaving 2½d. for labour. 1952, L. F. Salzman, Building in England, page 175

Etymology 4

From Middle English seym (“grease”), from Old French saim (“fat”). Compare French saindoux (“lard”).

noun

1. (UK, dialect, obsolete) Grease; tallow; lard.