# simmer

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈsɪmɚ/ · frequency rank #20,499

## Definitions
1. To cook or undergo heating slowly at or below the boiling point.
2. To cause to cook or to cause to undergo heating slowly at or below the boiling point.
3. To be on the point of breaking out into anger; to be agitated.
4. To remain angry with someone or something past the point of exhaustion; to resign oneself to holding a grudge, especially after some failed attempts to resolve a situation.
5. To develop gradually, of an idea or plan.

## Etymology
From alteration of dialectal simper, from Middle English simperen (“to simmer”), of possibly imitative origin. First attested in the intransitive sense. The noun is from the verb. First attested in the late 15ᵗʰ century.

## Easily confused with
- **Simms** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-simms)
- **Somme** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-somme)
- **summer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-summer)
- **sister** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-sister)
- **singer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-singer)
- **sinner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-sinner)
- **Sumner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-sumner)
- **sitter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-sitter)
- **somber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-somber)
- **Sumter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-sumter)
- **Sommer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-sommer)
- **sinker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-sinker)
- **simpler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-simpler)
- **Summers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-summers)
- **swimmer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-swimmer)
- **slimmer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-slimmer)
- **swimmers** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/simmer-vs-swimmers)
- **silver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/silver-vs-simmer)
- **sicker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sicker-vs-simmer)
- **signer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/signer-vs-simmer)

## Common misspellings (7)
`ismmer`, `simemr`, `simer`, `simmerr`, `simmre`, `smimer`, `ssimmer`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/simmer