whelm

whelm · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kʷelp-“to curve”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*hwalbą“arch, vault”
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*hwalb
4. Old English · inherited from*hwealmnian
5. Middle English · inherited fromwhelmen“to turn over, capsize; to invert, turn upside down”
6. English todaywhelm

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”). Cognates The English word is cognate with Dutch welven (“to arch”), Old Saxon bihwelvian (“to cover, hide”), German wölben (“to bend, curve, arch”), Icelandic hvelfa (“to overturn”), German Walm (“a vaulted roof”), Icelandic hvolf (“vaulted ceiling”), Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, “bosom, hollow, gulf”). The noun is derived from the verb.

whelm · verb²

Back-formation from overwhelm /underwhelm, as if a base verb "whelm" described a middling intensity between under- and overwhelming.

Words from the same roots