- teem (1)
- "abound, swarm," O.E. teman (Mercian), tieman (W.Saxon) "give birth to, produce," from P.Gmc. *taumijanan, from PIE *deuk- "to lead" (see duke). Related to team in its now-obsolete O.E. sense of "family, brood of young animals." The meaning "be fertile, abound, swarm" is first recorded 1593; teeming in this sense is from 1715.
- teem (2)
- "to flow copiously," c.1300, from O.N. toema "to empty," from tomr "empty," cognate with O.E. tom "empty." The original notion is of "to empty a vessel," thus "to pour out."