seme

plural semes · plural semata

1. human sciencesAnything which serves for any purpose as a substitute for an object of which it is, in some sense, a representation, sign, or symbol.

present singular third person semes · participle present seming · participle past semed · past semed

1. obsoleteObsolete form of seem.

plural semes

1. obsoleteObsolete form of seam.

1. obsoleteObsolete form of semé.

   I bear Azure seme of trefoiles, a Lions Paw in fæce, Or, armed Gules.

   1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 46, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 150

plural semes

1. JapaneseslangfictionAn active or dominant male character in a same-sex relationship; a top.

   Sebas has always been the seme.

   2010, Pentabu, My Girlfriend's a Geek, volume 1, Yen Press (2012), →ISBN

   2 more examples

   […] BL manga readers chose intelligence, protectiveness, and beauty/handsomeness as the top three most important traits in a seme […]

   2008, Dru Pagliassotti, “Better Than Romance? Japanese BL Manga and the Subgenre of Male/Male Romantic Fiction”, in Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, Dru Pagliassotti, editors, Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, McFarland & Company (2008), →ISBN, page 73

   The seme is larger, stronger, and more traditionally masculine, while the uke is smaller, weaker, and more feminine.

   2011, Robin E. Brenner, Snow Wildsmith, “Love through a DIfferent Lens: Japanese Homoerotic Manga through the Eyes of American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Other Sexualities Readers”, in Timothy Perper, Martha Cornog, editors, Mangatopia: Essays on Manga and Anime in the Modern World, Libraries Unlimited (2011), →ISBN, page 97