An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/gleichsam

by Friedrich Kluge

gleichsam, adv., ‘as it were, as though,’ a combination of gleich and sam for gleich wie, ‘just as if’; comp. MidHG. sam, same, adv., ‘thus, just as, even as’ (OHG. sama, from a pronom. stem sama-, ‘the very same’; comp. E. same, Gr. ὁμός, Sans. sama-, ‘the same, equal’). — See Gleißner.