English
clem
Clem comes from Old English clemman ‘to press, surround’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *klammjan ‘to squeeze’.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klammjan‘to squeeze’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150clemman‘to press, surround’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*clemmenreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1889clem
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klammjan‘to squeeze’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150clemman‘to press, surround’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*clemmenreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1889clem
Earliest quotation: 1889, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, Between Two Loves: “[…] Here he's back home again, and without work,…”
Linked words
through Proto-West Germanic *klammjan ‘to squeeze’
Another origin of clem
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gleh₁y-‘to smear, to stick’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*klaimaz‘clay, mortar’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*klaim‘clay, mortar’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150clām‘paste, mortar, mud, clay, poultice’
- Englishtodayclem
Today it means
verb To be hungry; starve.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *klammjan / clem