Etymograph

English

ohm

Ohm comes from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim ‘maternal uncle’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*awahaimaz‘maternal uncle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*auhaim‘maternal uncle’reconstructed
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1900ohm

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*awahaimaz‘maternal uncle’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*auhaim‘maternal uncle’reconstructed
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1900ohm

Earliest quotation: 1900, Journal of the Franklin Institute: “If the volt, ampere and ohm were taken as…”

first attested A German surname, first recorded in the 12th century, from German Ohm (“uncle”), from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim (“maternal uncle”), from or related to Proto-Germanic *awô (“grandfather, paternal uncle”) + *haimaz (“home”) (as stated in the etymology)

The story

Named after Bavarian physicist Georg Ohm. A German surname, first recorded in the 12th century, from German Ohm (‘uncle’), from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim (‘maternal uncle’), from or related to Proto-Germanic *awô (‘grandfather, paternal uncle’) + *haimaz (‘home’).

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz ‘maternal uncle’

oom, eam

through Proto-West Germanic *auhaim ‘maternal uncle’

eme

Today it means

noun In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electrical resistance; the electrical resistance of a device across which a potential difference of one volt causes a current of one ampere.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz / ohm

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