Meanings
semese1
- not comparablerareHalf-eaten.
“Ha, ha, ha!” said Bruce. “No; they’re sons of gyps and that kind of thing, who feed on the semese fragments of the high table.”
1859, Frederic William Farrar, “chapter VII: The Scorn of Scorn”, in Julian Home: A Tale of College Life, published 1866, page 891 more example
But what was my indignation, vexation and shame when I discovered them greedily engaged in ravenously devouring the semese fragments of a barbaric repast.
1903 June 6, Dean Farrar as Headmaster, published in The Living Age, 7th series, volume XIX (from the beginning, volume CCXXXVII), number 3074
semese2
- A member of the warrior caste of the Elema of Papua New Guinea.
1 more example
During this period they meet the semese or fighting men of the tribe, “from whom they receive every incentive to become warriors.” Finally there are certain endurance tests that each heapu must pass before he is considered eligible to become a semese. “Of these the most important tests are, chewing upe (the root of the ginger plant), and drinking the urine of the semese chief.” The wind-up of the whole affair is the feast at which the heapu at last becomes a full-fledged semese and is entrusted with its mysteries; but this mystery feast is really an anticlimax and frequently disappoints the candidates.
2009, Arthur James Todd, The Primitive Family as an Educational Agency, page 208
Origin
Translations
Finnish puoliksi syöty
- puoliksi syötyhalf-eaten
Icelandic hálfétinn
- hálfétinnhalf-eaten
Latin sēmēsus
- sēmēsushalf-eaten
Cite this entry
semese. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semese
“semese.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semese. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semese,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semese.
Source: semese on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.