whelm

Meaning

Verb

1. To bury, to cover; to engulf, to submerge.
2. (obsolete) To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it.
3. (obsolete) To ruin or destroy.
4. To overcome with emotion; to overwhelm.

Noun

1. A surge of water.
2. A wooden drainpipe, a hollowed out tree trunk, turned with the cavity downwards to form an arched watercourse.

Synonyms

overwhelm

overpower

overcome

sweep over

overrun

overtake

flood

engulf

overflow

swallow up

raid

seize

shower

🚿

squat

submerge

take

take over

wrinkle

absorb

move in on

capture

carry

corner

deluge

encroach upon

flush

grip

inundate

occupy

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʍɛlm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: whelmen

Inherited from Old English: *hwealmnian

Cognate with German: Walm

Cognate with Icelandic: hvolf

Cognate with Dutch: welven

Cognate with German: wölben

Cognate with Icelandic: hvelfa

Cognate with Old Saxon: bihwelvian

Cognate with Ancient Greek: κόλπος

In summary

From Middle English whelmen (“to turn over, capsize; to invert, turn upside down”), perhaps from Old English *hwealmnian, a variant of *hwealfnian, from hwealf (“arched, concave, vaulted; an arched or vaulted ceiling”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwalb, from Proto-Germanic *hwalbą (“arch, vault”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- (“to curve”). The English word is cognate with German Walm (“a vaulted roof”), Icelandic hvolf (“vaulted ceiling”), Dutch welven (“to arch”), German wölben (“to bend, curve; to arch”), Icelandic hvelfa (“to overturn”), Old Saxon bihwelvian (“to cover; to hide”), Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, “bosom, hollow, gulf”).
The noun is derived from the verb.