English
abeam
Abeam comes from English beam ‘keel’, from Middle English bem ‘a beam’, and ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *baum ‘tree’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baum‘tree’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bēam‘tree’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bem‘a beam’
- English1500–presentbeam‘keel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1881–1882abeam
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baum‘tree’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bēam‘tree’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bem‘a beam’
- English1500–presentbeam‘keel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1881–1882abeam
Earliest quotation: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, London; Paris: Cassell & Company: “We were heading S.S.W., and had a steady breeze…”
A compound of a- ‘in the direction of’ + beam ‘keel’
Proto-Indo-European *uds- ‘up, out’
Proto-Germanic *uz- ‘out-’
Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- ‘up, out, over’
English a-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- ‘to grow, swell’
Proto-Germanic *baumaz ‘tree, beam, balk’
Proto-West Germanic *baum ‘tree’
Old English bēam ‘tree, cross, gallows, column, pillar, wood,…’
Middle English bem ‘a beam’
English beam
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to grow, swell, be’
be, been, power, possible, future, present, build, physical, improve, presence, essential, bond, bush, bound, contribution, physician, entity, absence, booth, approve, probability, distribute, contributor, absent, favorable, fiat, bun, bouquet, retribution, attribution, favourable, imp, rebuke, impotent, impossibility, bower, aren, bosque, phylogeny, physic, 84 more
through Proto-West Germanic *baum ‘tree’
through English beam ‘keel’
Another origin of abeam
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰuH-‘to grow, swell, be’uncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bagmaz‘tree’uncertain
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*baum‘tree’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bēam‘tree’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bem‘a beam’
- English1500–presentbeam‘to emit beams of light’
- Englishtodayabeam
Today it means
adv On the beam; at a right angle to the centerline or keel of a vessel or aircraft; being at a bearing approximately 90° or 270° relative.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *baum / abeam