loom

Meaning

Synonyms

Frequency

26k
Pronounced as (IPA)
/luːm/
Etymology

From Middle English lome, from Old English lōma, ġelōma (“tool, utensil, implement, article of furniture, household effect”) (also as andlōma, andġelōma, andlama (“utensil, instrument, implement, tool, vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *lōmō, *lamō (“tool, utensil”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Dutch alaam, allaam (“tool, household ware or good, appliance”), from Middle Dutch andlame. Perhaps originally meaning "a thing of frequent use, thing repeatedly needed", in which case, akin to Old English ġelōme (“often, frequently, continually, repeatedly”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + *lōmiz, *lōmijaz (“lame, halt”), from Proto-Indo-European *lem- (“to break, soften”). Compare Old High German giluomo, kilōmo (“often, frequently”), Old High German luomen (“to wear out, fatigue”), Old High German *luomī (as in gastluomī (“hospitality”), Old English lama (“lame”). See lame. Outside Proto-Germanic related to Russian ломи́ть (lomítʹ, “to break”), Russian лома́ть (lomátʹ, “to break, to fracture”), Russian ле́мех (lémex, “ploughshare”). For the semantic development compare Serbo-Croatian ра́збо̄ј (“loom (weaving frame)”) related to ра̀збити (“to break, to smash, to crack”).

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