seism rare.
(ˈsaɪz(ə)m)
[f. Gr. σεισµ-ός: see seismic a. Cf. F. sisme.]
An earthquake.
| 1883 Milne Earthquakes i. (1886) 9 To be consistent with a Greek basis for seismological terminology, some writers have thrown aside the familiar expression ‘earthquake’, and substituted the awkward word ‘seism’. 1904 C. E. Dutton Earthquakes xiv. 238 The average intensity of the quakes or ‘seisms’ as De Montessus terms them. |