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Teem and team are not just homophones, they are also etymological kin. Teem comes from Old English tīman or tǣman, which originally meant "to bring forth offspring" or "to give birth to.” That word is related to the ancestor of team, the Old English noun tēam, meaning "offspring, lineage, or group of draft animals." Team can still be used to refer to a brood of young animals, especially pigs or ducks, but both teem and team have otherwise largely left their offspring-related senses behind.
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What is the difference between the verbs teem and team?
If you want to describe an overflowing abundance of something, the word you are looking for is teem. We often see reference to "the teeming masses," "streets teeming with activity," or "forests teeming with life." You want the word team if you are trying to describe pairing two or more things in a coordinated ensemble ("she teamed the oxen together"), or forming some kind of partnership or association ("we are teaming with another organization this year").
Synonyms
Examples of teem in a Sentence
Tim Spiers, The Athletic, 21 Jan. 2025
For six generations, the 100-year-old white house on East Mariposa Street – with its teeming flower beds and red shingles – was the family’s center of gravity.
—Matt Friedman, CNN, 19 Jan. 2025
Hope has spread like wildfire in teeming WhatsApp groups and in living rooms where Mr. Khan’s supporters gather.
—Salman Masood, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2025
With azure-blue as far as the eye can see, and teeming marine life and kaleidoscopic coral, there’s much to marvel at beneath the surface.
—Matt Kirouac, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Apr. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Teem.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teem. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.
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