*helmô

Runic: ᚺᛖᛚᛗᛟ Pronunciation: /ˈxel.mɔːː/

noun · masculine · an-stem

Meanings

  1. handle, especially for steering a boat: helm, tiller
  2. rudder

Etymology

Usually thought to be from Proto-Indo-European *ḱél-mō, earlier *ḱél-mn̥, from the root *ḱel- (‘to cover’); equivalent to *helaną + *-mô. Cognate with Sanskrit शर्मन् (śárman) (śárman, ‘shelter, protection’). However, the semantic connection is weak.

An alternative theory by Kroonen links *halmaz and *helmaz (‘haulm, straw, stalk, cane’), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱélh₂-m (on)-, assuming the original meaning of *helmô was closer to “cane” and referred just to the shaft of a handle implement.

Per Vasmer related to Russian чёлн (čoln) < Proto-Slavic *čьlnъ, Ancient Greek σκαλμός (skalmós) (skalmós).

Note the presence of *(s)- in the related synonyms.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.helmôhelmaniz
Acc.helmanųhelmanunz
Gen.hilminizhelmanǫ̂
Dat.hilminihelmammaz
Inst.hilminēhelmammiz
Voc.helmôhelmaniz

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Descendants

  • *helmō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *helma (Old Dutch)
      • helm (Middle Dutch)
        • helm (Dutch)
  • *helmō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • helma (Old English)
      • halm (Middle English)
        • helm (English)
  • *helmō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • halme (Old High German)
      • halme, halm, helm (Middle High German)
        • Helm (German)
  • *helmō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *helma (Old Saxon)
      • helm, holm (Middle Low German)
        • Holm (German)
  • hjalmvǫlr (Old Norse)
  • hjalmurvǫlr (Old Norse)
  • hjalmarvǫlr (Old Norse)
  • hjalmunvǫlr (Old Norse)

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