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From alteration of dialectal simper, from Middle Englishsimperen(“to simmer”), of possibly imitative origin. First attested in the intransitive sense. The noun is from the verb. First attested in the late 15th century.
1945 January and February, “Notes and News: American Locomotives in France”, in Railway Magazine, page 46:
The locomotive was the now inevitable American 2-8-0, No. 2623. There she stood, effectively blocking the level crossing, simmering gently, massively inert. It was almost dark, and one's final sight was of her high, firelit cab, the enginemen nonchalantly leaning out, waiting for the right-away, while impatient road convoys piled up on both sides of the crossing.
2004, Susan Westmoreland, The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, Hearst Books, →ISBN, page 89:
That way, the heat can circulate under the meat and prevent it from simmering in its juices.
(transitive) To cause to cook or to cause to undergo heating slowly at or below the boiling point.