Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Simmer

Simmer , intransitive verb

[Prov. English also simper; -- an onomatopoetic word.]

To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil.
I simmer as liquor doth on the fire before it beginneth to boil. — Palsgrave

Simmer , transitive verb

To cause to boil gently; to cook in liquid heated almost or just to the boiling point.