English
cwm
Cwm comes from Welsh cwm ‘valley’, and goes back to Proto-Celtic *kumbā.
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*kumbā‘valley’reconstructed
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*komm‘valley’reconstructed
- Middle Welshc. 1150–1500cwm
- Welshc. 1500–presentsame form‘valley’
- Englishearliest quotation 1913same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*kumbā‘valley’reconstructed
- Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*komm‘valley’reconstructed
- Middle Welshc. 1150–1500cwm
- Welshc. 1500–presentsame form‘valley’
- Englishearliest quotation 1913same form
Earliest quotation: 1913, Robert Falcon Scott, Scott's Last Expedition: “A fine glacier descends from Mount Longstaff. It has…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kew- ‘bend’
Today it means
noun A valley head created through glacial erosion and with a shape similar to an amphitheatre.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Celtic *kumbā / cwm