Meanings
holm1
plural holms · alternative obsolete holme
- An island in a lake, river or estuary; an eyot.
- Rich flat land near a river, prone to flooding.
A Brownie once lived with Maxwell, Laird of Dalswinton, and was particularly attached to the Laird's daughter, the comeliest lass in all the holms of Nithsdale.
1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 170Synonyms: floodplain, bottomland, bottoms, river-meadow
holm2
plural holms
- obsolete outside UK dialectsCommon holly (Ilex aquifolium).
The fruitfull Oliue, and the Platane round, / The caruer Holme, the Maple, ſeeldom inward ſound.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 5 - A holm oak (Quercus ilex), a common evergreen oak of Europe.
Holm3
- A surname.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounRich flat land near a river, prone to flooding.
Origin
holm · noun
- Proto-Germanic*hulmaz“rising ground, hill, island”
- Old Norseholmr
- Old Englishholm“wave, ocean, water, sea, islet”
- Middle Englishholm
- Englishholm
From Middle English holm, holme, from Old English holm (“wave, ocean, water, sea, islet”) and Old Norse holmr, holmi (“islet”), both from the Proto-Germanic *hulmaz (“rising ground, hill, island”), from Proto-Indo-European root *kelH- (“to rise, be elevated, be prominent; hill”). Cognate with Old Saxon holm, Middle Low German holm, German Holm, Middle Dutch holm, Danish holm, Swedish holme, Norwegian Bokmål holme, Icelandic hólmur.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →holm · noun
- Middle Englishholm
- Englishholm
From Middle English holm, holme, alteration of Middle English holin (“holly”). Doublet of hollin and holly.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Holm · proper noun
- Proto-Germanic*hulmaz
- Old Norseholmr
- Low Germanholm
- EnglishHolm
* As an English, Scottish, German (by way of Low German holm), Scandinavian (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark) /North Germanic surname (from Old Norse holmr), from holm (“islet”), all from Proto-Germanic *hulmaz. * Also as an English surname, from holm (“holly”). Compare Hollis.
More words from Low German, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish holm
- holmsmall island
Dutch holm
- holmsmall island
Finnish luoto
- luotosmall island
Scottish Gaelic innis
- innissmall island
Swedish holme
- holmesmall island
Ukrainian остріве́ць
- остріве́ць (ostrivécʹ)small island
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with holm
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
holm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holm
“holm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holm. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “holm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/holm.
Source: holm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.