arm

arm · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂er-
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂érmos
3. Proto-Germanic*armaz
4. Proto-West Germanic*arm
5. Old Englishearm
6. Middle Englisharm
7. English todayarm

From Middle English arm, from Old English earm (Anglian arm), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“a fitting, joint; arm, forequarter”), a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to join, fit together”). Cognates Akin to Dutch arm, German Arm, Yiddish אָרעם (orem), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish arm. Indo-European cognates include Latin armus (“the uppermost part of the arm, shoulder”), Bulgarian рамо (ramo), Polish ramię, Serbo-Croatian rȁme, Armenian արմունկ (armunk, “elbow”), Ancient Greek ἁρμός (harmós, “joint, shoulder”) and ἅρμα (hárma, “wagon, chariot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬨𐬀 (arma), Old Persian [script needed] (arma).

arm · adjective²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₁erm-“poor, ill”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*armaz“poor”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*arm
4. Old English · inherited fromearm“poor, miserable, pitiful, wretched”
5. Middle English · inherited fromarm“poor, wretched”
6. English todayarm

From Middle English arm (“poor, wretched”), from Old English earm (“poor, miserable, pitiful, wretched”), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“poor”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁erm- (“poor, ill”). Cognates Akin to Dutch arm (“poor”), German arm (“poor”), Yiddish אָרעם (orem, “poor”), Swedish arm (“poor”).

arm · noun, verb³

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂er-mo-
2. Old French · derived fromarmes
3. Middle English · inherited fromarmes
4. English todayarm

Back-formation from arms (plural), from Middle English armes, from Old French armes, from Latin arma (“weapons”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-mo-, a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to fit together”), hence ultimately cognate with etymology 1.

Words from the same roots