Definition
An abbreviation of *semble* (also written *semb.*), a French-derived term used in legal writing and case reporting to signal that a proposition of law appears to be so, or seems to follow from the reasoning of a court, without being a direct or authoritative holding. Where *semb.* or *semble* appears in a report or digest, it indicates the reporter's or author's view that the court implied or suggested something without expressly deciding it.
Common Confusion
*Semb.* is sometimes read past without recognition, particularly by researchers unfamiliar with English law report conventions. It can be mistaken for a statement of settled law or for a reporter's summary of a holding. The distinction matters: a holding binds; *semble* merely suggests. Researchers should also distinguish *semble* from *quaere* (which signals genuine doubt or an open question) and from *per curiam* notations. Each represents a different editorial judgment about the status of a legal proposition.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering *semb.* in older case reports and digests must treat the flagged proposition with caution. It is not a holding, not dictum in the strict sense, and not a concession — it is an editorial inference by the reporter. In English law reports from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, reporters exercised considerable discretion in noting what a court seemed to intend, and *semb.* was a conventional shorthand for that judgment call. American digests occasionally adopted the same convention, particularly in early federal and state reports modeled on English practice.
The practical trap: a *semb.* notation in a digest or headnote may look like a statement of law but carries no binding weight whatsoever. It cannot be cited as authority. When tracing a legal proposition back through historical sources, finding that its earliest appearance is prefaced by *semb.* should prompt further investigation to determine whether the point was ever squarely decided.
Because the abbreviation is compressed and easily overlooked, it is also worth checking whether a source uses *semb.*, *semble*, or the full phrase *semble que* — all signal the same hedged, inferential quality.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary identifies *semb.* solely as an abbreviation of *semble* and directs the reader to that entry, which carries the substantive definition. This is consistent with the treatment in other nineteenth-century legal reference works, where abbreviations of this kind were catalogued primarily as a convenience for readers of law reports. The abbreviation itself has no independent legal content; its meaning is entirely derivative of *semble*.