termes

Meaning

a branch or bough of a tree, especially one severed thence

Concepts

limb

a tree branch

Translations

Ast

Zweig

κλαδί

branche

ramo

tak

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ˈtɛr.mɛs]

Etymology

Traditionally derived from terō (“I rub away”), but unknown. Alternatively connected either with tener (“tender, young”) and Sabine terenum (“soft”), from Proto-Indo-European *ter- (“tender, soft, weak, young, small”), particularly if the original meaning was “weak branch” or “young shoot”, or according to Calvert Watkins with termen (“end”), if the original meaning was “end, tip” (compare the cognate Proto-Germanic *þrumą (“butt, end, stump”)), from Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥. Michiel de Vaan lists the word as without etymology. The odd suffix and semantic category may be indicative of substrate origin.