helm
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English helm, helme, from Old English helma, from Proto-Germanic *helmô (“handle”). Compare German Holm (“beam”).
NounEdit
helm (plural helms)
- (nautical) The steering apparatus of a ship, especially the tiller or wheel.
- (maritime) The member of the crew in charge of steering the boat.
- Synonym: helmsman
- (figuratively) A position of leadership or control.
- the helm of the Commonwealth
- 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, in BBC[2]:
- Grant will be desperate to finish the job of getting West Ham to their first Wembley cup final in 30 years when they meet Birmingham in the second leg at St Andrews on 26 January; though arguably of more pressing concern is whether he will still be at the helm for Saturday's Premier League encounter with Arsenal.
- One at the place of direction or control; a guide; a director.
- c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
- the helms o' the State, who care for you like fathers
- (obsolete, UK, dialect) A helve.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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VerbEdit
helm (third-person singular simple present helms, present participle helming, simple past and past participle helmed)
- To be a helmsman or a member of the helm; to be in charge of steering the boat.
- a. 1892, Alfred Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine
- A wild wave […] overbears the bark, / And him that helms it.
- a. 1892, Alfred Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine
- (by extension) To lead (a project, etc.).
- c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, “Measvre for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
- the business he hath helmed
- 2014, Malcolm Jack, John Grant with the Royal Northern Sinfonia review – positively spine-tingling, The Guardian, 1 December 2014:
- I wanted to change the world, but I could not even change my underwear,” sings John Grant at the piano, in a luxuriant baritone croon as thick and healthy as his beard. It’s hard to reconcile the guy who once struggled to so much as put on clean pants back in the bad old days – well-storied, not least through his own songs – with the one warmly and gracefully helming this complex, prestigious production – the penultimate date on a tour of packed concert halls, backed by an orchestra.
- 2021, Jill Colvin, Trump bids farewell to Washington, hints of comeback, AP News, 20 January 2021
- But Trump retains his iron grip on the Republican base, with the support of millions of loyal voters and allies still helming the Republican National Committee and many state party organizations.
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English helm, from Old English helm (“helmet”), from Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (“protective covering”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelmos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover; hide; protect”); Compare West Frisian helm, Dutch helm, Low German Helm, German Helm, Danish, Norwegian hjelm.
NounEdit
helm (plural helms)
- (rare, poetic) A helmet.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
- Their plumed helmes are wrought with beaten golde,
Their ſwords enameld, and about their neckes
Hangs maſſie chaines of golde downe to the waſte,
In euery part exceding braue and rich.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 6”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- O're Shields and Helmes, and helmed heads he rode.
- 1927, Edgar Rice Burrows, The Outlaw of Torn[3], HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
- "A fearful apparition," murmured Norman of Torn. "No wonder he keeps his helm closed."
- (heraldry) A helmet.
- A heavy cloud lying on the brow of a mountain.
- 1801, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “A Stranger Minstrel”, in Poems:
- Ancient Skiddaw […]
Thus spake from out his helm of cloud.
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
NounEdit
helm (plural helms)
- Alternative form of haulm (a straw)
AfrikaansEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
helm (plural helms)
AlbanianEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Albanian *hal(i)m, from Proto-Indo-European *skel- (“to cut (off)”). Cognate to Old High German scalmo (“plague, pestilence”), Welsh claf (“sick”).[1]
NounEdit
helm m (indefinite plural helme, definite singular helmi, definite plural helmet)
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997) Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz [Albanian Etymologies: Investigations into the Albanian Inherited Lexicon] (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 7)[1] (in German), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, page 198
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle Dutch helm, from Old Dutch *helm, from Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz. Compare West Frisian helm, Low German Helm, German Helm, Danish hjelm.
NounEdit
helm m (plural helmen, diminutive helmpje n)
Derived termsEdit
- blauwhelm
- bouwhelm
- fietshelm
- gevechtshelm
- helmdoek
- helmkroon
- helmteken
- integraalhelm
- krijgshelm
- mijnhelm
- mijnwerkershelm
- motorhelm
- oorlogshelm
- pothelm
- racehelm
- ridderhelm
- ruiterhelm
- soldatenhelm
- strijdhelm
- toernooihelm
- valhelm
- wapenhelm
DescendantsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
NounEdit
helm f or n (uncountable)
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
From Middle Dutch *helm, attested in helmstoc. Akin to English helm.
NounEdit
helm m (plural helmen, diminutive helmpje n)
- A tiller on a vessel's rudder.
- The handle on a pounder to crush fibers in a paper mill.
Derived termsEdit
IndonesianEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
helm (first-person possessive helmku, second-person possessive helmmu, third-person possessive helmnya)
- helmet (protective head covering)
LudianEdit
EtymologyEdit
NounEdit
helm
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old English helm, from Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz.
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
helm (plural helmes or helmen)
- A helmet; a piece of armoured headgear.
- 1275, Layamon's Brut
- Luken sweord longe, leiden o þe helmen.
- (They drew their swords and put on their helms.)
- 1475, An Apology for Lollard Doctrines, Attributed to Wycliffe
- Þe helm of hel and þe swerd of þe Spirit.
- 1275, Layamon's Brut
- (figuratively) Any kind of protection or safeguarding.
- (figuratively, rare) A soldier; a fighting-man.
- (rare, biblical) The crown of thorns that Jesus wore.
Related termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “helm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-18.
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
helm
- Alternative form of helme
Old EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (“helmet”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, to hide”). Compare Old Frisian helm, Old Saxon helm, Old High German helm, Old Norse hjalmr, Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌼𐍃 (hilms).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
helm m
DeclensionEdit
Derived termsEdit
- bānhelm (“helmet, shield”)
- bārhelm (“helmet with the image of a boar”)
- behelmian (“to cover over”)
- cynehelm (“crown”)
- cynehelmian (“to crown”)
- grīmhelm (“helmet (with visor)”)
- gūþhelm (“helmet”)
- hæleþhelm, heoloþhelm (“helmet which makes the wearer invisible”)
- hēahhelm (“loftily crested”)
- helmberend (“helmeted warrior”)
- helmian, hilman, hylman (“to cover, crown; provide with a helmet”)
- hilman (“helmet, cover”)
- irsenhelm, īsenhelm (“iron helmet”)
- lēafhelmig (“leafy at the top”)
- leþerhelm (“leathern helmet”)
- lyfthelm (“air, mist, cloud.”)
- misthelm (“covering of mist”)
- nihthelm (“shades of night.”)
- oferhelmian (“to overshadow”)
- sceaduhelm (“darkness”)
- sundhelm (“covering of water, sea”)
- wæterhelm (“covering of ice”)
- wuldorhelm (“crown of glory”)
DescendantsEdit
Old High GermanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz. Compare Old Saxon helm, Old English helm, Old Norse hjalmr, Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌼𐍃 (hilms).
NounEdit
helm m
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
WelshEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English helm.
NounEdit
helm f (plural helmau, not mutable)
Further readingEdit
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “helm”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies