Etymograph

English

Wem

Wem comes from Old English womm ‘spot, mark, blot’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wemh₁- ‘to spew, to vomit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wemh₁-‘to spew, to vomit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wammaz‘spot, stain, blemish’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wammreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wommas wamm‘spot, mark, blot’
  5. EnglishtodayWem

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wemh₁-‘to spew, to vomit’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wammaz‘spot, stain, blemish’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wammreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wommas wamm‘spot, mark, blot’
  5. EnglishtodayWem

The story

Recorded as Weme 1086 (Domesday Book); from Old English wamm or wemm.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wemh₁- ‘to spew, to vomit’

vomit, emetic, 8 more

Today it means

name A small market town and civil parish with a town council in north Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ5129).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wemh₁- / Wem

Shirt and support for this word