Etymograph

English

loam

Loam comes from Middle English lom ‘Clay’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- ‘to smear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂leyH-‘to smear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laimaz‘loam, mud, clay’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laimreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lām‘clay, mud, mire, earth’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lom‘Clay’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602loam

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂leyH-‘to smear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laimaz‘loam, mud, clay’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laimreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lām‘clay, mud, mire, earth’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lom‘Clay’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602loam

Earliest quotation: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust,…”

The story

Related also to lime.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- ‘to smear’

delete, lime, deletion, indelible, dele, 9 more

Today it means

noun A type of soil; an earthy mixture of sand, silt and clay, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- / loam

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