Kevin
May 5, 2021
Common Questions
Do you know the definition of deemed? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word deemed, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!
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According to Merriam-Webster Unabridged English Dictionary and Cambridge English Dictionary, the word deemed is the past tense of the verb deem (pronounced diːm), a word that means to consider, regard, or judge something in a particular way. This transitive verb is always used on a person, place, or thing. One cannot simply “deem,” they must deem something. For example, a mold-infested building might be deemed unsafe for habitation. A can of dog foot might be deemed unfit for human consumption. A murderer might be deemed guilty in a trial. Try using this word of the day or other new words in a sentence today!
Many different languages also contain words that mean deemed. You may notice that some of these words look and sound similar to one another. This is probably because they have a common source. Often words that look, sound, and mean the same thing across languages – called cognates – are formed when two languages or words share a common ancestral language such as Latin or Greek. This list of translations for the word deemed is provided by Word Sense.
The word deemed can be used as a transitive verb on a number of people, places, and things. In this first example, Sarah is talking about her experience as a child with her friend Macy.
Macy: Where did you grow up?
Sarah: I moved around a lot, all over Los Angeles.
Macy: Oh, nice. Did your parents switch jobs a lot?
Sarah: No, I was actually in foster care. My parents were deemed unfit to care for me when I was a toddler, so I moved around from house to house.
Macy: Oh, wow.
Here, Sarah uses the word deemed to refer to a judge declaring that her parents were unfit to care for her. They were deemed unfit parents, and their child was subsequently taken from them.
There are many different words that someone can use in place of the word deemed. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are a useful English language grammatical device to know because they can help you avoid repeating yourself, as well as expand your vocabulary. This list of synonyms for the word deemed is provided by Thesaurus.
There are also numerous different words that have the opposite meaning as the word deemed. These are called antonyms, and are also a useful tool for expanding one’s vocabulary. This list of antonyms for the word deemed is also provided by Thesaurus.
According to Etymonline, the word deem is a verb that comes from the Old English deman, a word that meant to judge or consider. This word comes from the Proto-Germanic domjanan, which is also the source of the Old Frisian dema and Old Saxon adomian, Old Norse dma, Old High German tuomen, Gothic domjan, and the Middle Dutch doemen, which are all words that meant to judge. This is the diminutive of domaz, from the Proto-Indo-European root dhe meaning to set or put. Related words include deemed, deeming, misdeem, doom, duma, and dumpster. The judges on the Isle of Man were known as deemsters in the 17th century, which has been preserved in the last name dempster. A judge in Old English and Middle English was known as a deemer.
Overall, the word deemed is the past tense of the word deem, a verb that means to judge or regard something in a certain way. This word is very versatile, and can be used as a transitive verb on a person, place, or thing.
