Obs. Forms: 1 cwéman, 3 cweme(n, -enn; 2–3 quemen, (4–5 -yn), 3–6, 8 queme, (4 quem, quime, kueme), 5–6 queeme, (5 qw-); 3–5 qweme, (5 qwh-, wh-). Pa. t. 1 quemde, 1–3 cwemde, 3 cwemmde, quem-, quamede, 4 quemed, (5 -et, 6 Sc. -it). Pa. pple. 3 cwemedd, cwemmd, 3–5 quemed, (5 -yd). [OE. cwéman (= ʓecwéman I-QUEME v.) f. (ʓe)cwéme adj.; see prec. and cf. MSw. qvämma, qvemma, G. bequemen (f. bequem adj.).]
1. Of persons: To please, gratify (another, esp. a superior); to act so as to please (one). Orig. const. with dat. or to, later with objective case.
a. 750. Blickl. Glosses, 13, in O. E. Texts, 123. Conplacebam, quemde.
c. 897. K. Ælfred, Gregory’s Past., xix. 146. Ðæt ic monnum cweme & liciʓe.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 67. Ȝef þu þus dost … þu quemest god.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 1380. Him … Wið watres drinc ghe quemede wel.
1340. Ayenb., 26. To … do þet kuead, uor to kueme kuead-liche to þe wordle.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, V. 695. My fader nyl … do me grace … for ought I kan hym queme.
1496. Dives & Paup. (W. de W.), VIII. xiv. 342/1. We haue not gyuen hym ne wherwith to queme hym but that we take of hym.
[1530. Palsgr., 676/2. I queme,… This worde is nowe out of use.]
absol. c. 1275. Moral Ode, 96, in O. E. Misc. Hwat schulle we beren vs bi-voren; Mid hwan schulle we queme.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter lii. 6. God skatered banes of þa Unto men þat qwemes swa.
2. Of things: a. To please, to be acceptable or agreeable to (a person). Const. as prec.
a. 1000. Sal. & Sat. (Gr.), 165. Næniʓ man scile oft orðances ut abredan wæpnes ecʓʓe, ðeah ðe him se wlite cweme.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 338. Seruises inedde ne cwemeð nout ure Louerde.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 578. Þy dom vs alle quemes.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 273. Every newe love quemeth To him which newefongel is.
1447. Bokenham, Seyntys (Roxb.), 196. Tyl it hym queme To returnyn ageyn.
a. 1500. How the good wife, etc. in Hazlitt, E. P. P., I. 188. A dede wele done herte it whemyth.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., May, 15. Such merimake holy Saints doth queme [gloss. please].
1602. Davison, Rhapsody (1611), 53. Like peerlesse pleasures wont us for to queeme.
b. To be suitable or fitting for. rare–1.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 3404. Paris … Worshippit þat worthy in wedys full riche As qwemet for a qwene.
3. trans. To satisfy, appease, mitigate. rare.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 408. Swilc tiding ðhugte adam god, And sumdel quemeð it his seri mod. Ibid., 978. At a welle quemede hire list.
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas (1494), I. xxiii. 125. All the worlde outcrieth of vs tweyn Whos hatful ire by vs may nat be quemyd.
4. To join or fit closely. Sc. rare.
1501. Douglas, Pal. Hon., III. lxvii. And thame [the stones] coniunctlie jonit fast and quemit.
1808–80. Jamieson, To Queem, to fit exactly; as, to queem the mortice, or joint in wood. Upp. Lanarks.
5. To slip in. rare–0.
1727. Bailey, vol. II., To Queme, as to queme a Thing into one’s Hand, to put it in privately.
Hence † Quemed ppl. a.; † Queming vbl. sb.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 86. Til ihesus crist fro helle nam His quemed wid eue and adam.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter cxlvi. 10. Noght … in schines of man queming bes him tille.
1340. Ayenb., 26. Þe ilke ssame comþ of kueade kuemynge.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 420/1. Qwemynge, or peesynge, pacificacio.
