Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/humelaz

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *km̥H-el-os (“bumblebee”), probably onomatopoeic from a root *kemH- (“to hum”). Cognate with Proto-Slavic *čьmèľь (“bumblebee”), *komãrъ (“mosquito”), Lithuanian kamãnė, Old Prussian camus (“bumblebee”).

Noun

*humelaz m

1. bumblebee

Related terms

• *hummōną (“to hum”)

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *humel
  • Middle Dutch: homel
    • Dutch: hommel
  • Old English: *humbel
    • ⇒ Old English: myōð-umbel
    • ⇒ Middle English: humbul-bē, hombul-bē
      • English: bumblebee
      • Scots: bumbee
      • Yola: bumble-bee
  • Old High German: humbal, humbala, humbalo
    • Middle High German: humbel, hummel
      • German: Hummel
  • Middle Low German: homele, homelte
• Old Norse: humla
  • Danish: humle, humlebi
  • Faroese: humla
  • Icelandic: humla
  • Norwegian Bokmål: humle
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: humle
  • Old Swedish: humbla
    • Swedish: humla

Further reading

• Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*humela-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 255: “m. 'bumblebee'”