yelm

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*ǵʰelh₃-“green, yellow”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*galmi“bundle or handful of plants”
3. Old English · inherited fromġielm“bunch or handful (of plant stems)”
4. Middle English · inherited fromyelm
5. English todayyelm

The noun is derived from Middle English yelm, from Old English ġielm (“bunch or handful (of plant stems)”), from Proto-West Germanic *galmi (“bundle or handful of plants”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”) or *gʰel- (“to cut”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Words from the same roots