a sudden release of energy in the earth's crust or upper mantle, usually caused by movement along a fault plane or by volcanic activity and resulting in the generation of seismic waves which can be destructive
▶ Related adjective: seismic
seism in American English
(ˈsaizəm, -səm)
noun
an earthquake
Word origin
[1880–85; ‹ Gk seismós, equiv. to seis-, s. of seíein to shake, quake + -mos n. suffix; cf. -ism]This word is first recorded in the period 1880–85. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: barnstorm, highball, irredentist, quotation mark, regionalism-ism is a suffix appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form action nounsfrom verbs (baptism). On this model, -ism is used as a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice,state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion oradherence, etc. (criticism; barbarism; Darwinism; despotism; plagiarism; realism; witticism; intellectualism)
Examples of 'seism' in a sentence
seism
But the macroseismic intensity expresses the consequences of the seism, and not its physical characteristics of the structures.
Mahmoud Serraye, Salima Amri 2018, 'Developed approach to determine the seismic vulnerability of reinforced concrete structures',MATEC Web of Conferenceshttps://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201814902078. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Only a minor part represents a 2010 co-seismic deformation with gentle warping of the inherited undulation during the seism.
José F. Araya Vergara 2015, 'Co-seismic deformation of an estuarine terrace, Constitución, Central Chile', Investigaciones Geográficashttps://investigacionesgeograficas.uchile.cl/index.php/IG/article/view/36673. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
The input data consists in the relative displacements for each story during the seism simulated with a certain accelerogram.
Mihai NEGRU, Adriana IONESCU 2019, 'SOFTWARE FOR GRAPHIC POSTPROCESSING IN SEISM NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE BUILDINGSEQUIPPED WITH ANTISEISMIC DEVICES', Journal of Industrial Design and Engineering Graphicshttp://sorging.ro/jideg/index.php/jid/article/view/444. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)