Standard Lemma guide

temse

noun · verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /tɛms/
  • /tɛmz/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sieve.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, dialectal, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To sift.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dialectal, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English temse (“a sieve”) and temsen (“to sieve”), both from Old English temsian, temesian (“to sieve; strain; sift”). Compare also French tamis, Dutch teems, North Frisian tems, Danish dialectal tems (“sieve”), German dialectal Zims (“sieve”). Compare also tamine. Doublet of tamis.