*amsaz

From an inherited Proto-Indo-European thematic masculine meaning ‘shoulder’, conventionally reconstructible as h₂ṓms, though the identity of the laryngeal and the internal prehistory of the noun are disputed. Kroonen (2013: 25) reconstructs *h₃ém-so-, while Höfler (2018: 129–146) proposes an ablauting paradigm with nominative singular *h₁ómhₓsos > *h₁ómsos beside weak *h₁emhₓso-, the latter accounting for Latin umerus without otherwise unmotivated vowel epenthesis; Ancient Greek ὦμος (ômos) is likewise compatible with *h₁ómsos under recent analyses of early Greek vowel nasalization (Höfler 2018: 129–146); (Kostopoulos 2025; Mallory & Adams 1997: 515–16). Cognates include Sanskrit अंस (áṃsa), Armenian ուս (us), Tocharian A es, and Tocharian B āntse.