The story
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hailasamaz
- Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hailasam
- Old English · inherited from*hālsum
- Middle English · inherited fromholsom
- English todaywholesome
From earlier holesome, from Middle English holsom, holsum, helsum, halsum, from Old English *hālsum, *hǣlsum, from Proto-West Germanic *hailasam, from Proto-Germanic *hailasamaz, equivalent to whole + -some or hale (“healthy”) + -some. Cognate with Saterland Frisian heelsoam, Dutch heilzaam, German Low German heelsaam, German heilsam, Icelandic heilsamur, Norwegian Nynorsk helsesam, Swedish hälsosam (“wholesome”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.