An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/gleichsam

by Friedrich Kluge

gleichsam, adverb, ‘as it were, as though,’ a combination of gleich and sam for gleich wie, ‘just as if’; compare Middle High German sam, same, adverb, ‘thus, just as, even as’ (Old High German sama, from a pronominal stem sama-, ‘the very same’; compare English same, Greek ὁμός, Sanscrit sama-, ‘the same, equal’). — See Gleißner.