sema

¹ American  

[se-mah, say-mah] / sɛˈmɑ, ˈseɪ mɑ /

noun

1. Islam. a ritual in the Sufi tradition, combining the recitation of poetry, chanting of passages from the Quran, music, vocal and instrumental music, and dancing by whirling dervishes.

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sema ² American  

[say-mah] / ˈseɪ mɑ /

noun

1. in Anishinaabe culture, tobacco, viewed as a sacred plant and used in prayer and offerings to the Creator.

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sema ³ American  

[see-muh] / ˈsi mə /

noun

plural

semas

1. Linguistics. (in semiotics) a unit of meaning; sememe.

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Example Sentences

This was the sense I had at the sema I attended at the cultural center, and a couple of my fellow audience members agreed with that assessment.

From Washington Post • Apr. 11, 2019

Inspired, other sects started to spread his dance, called the sema, throughout the Ottoman Empire.

From Washington Post • Apr. 11, 2019

According to Jacobs, the full attention of the audience is integral to the success of the sema performance.

From Washington Post • Apr. 11, 2019

Elifnaz Caliskan, a Turkish citizen in graduate school at University of Maryland, has attended many sema ceremonies in Konya and Istanbul.

From Washington Post • Apr. 11, 2019

Li leviĝis kaj iris al sia laboro, kaj tiun ĉi tagon kaj multajn sekvantajn tagojn li laboradis kiel kutime, parolante al neniu pri la sema sonĝo.

From International Language Past, Present and Future: With Specimens of Esperanto and Grammar by Clark, Walter John