Dictionary.net

• sem'e-l[=e], n. a genus of bivalves. [Gr. Semel[=e], the mother of Bacchus.]

1908 - Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language
By Thomas Davidson

• [Gr.] (Myth.) The mother of Dionysos or Bacchus. See Bacchanalian.

1895 - Glossary of terms and phrases
By Henry Percy Smith