whelm

Meanings

Verb

• To bury, to cover; to engulf, to submerge.
• To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it.
• To ruin or destroy.
• To overcome with emotion; to overwhelm.

Noun

• A surge of water.

Origin

• From Middle English whelmen, perhaps from Old English *hwealmnian, a variant of *hwealfnian, from hwealf, from Proto-West Germanic *hwalb, from Proto-Germanic *hwalbą, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp-. The English word is cognate with German Walm, Icelandic hvolf, Dutch welven, German wölben, Icelandic hvelfa, Old Saxon bihwelvian, Ancient Greek κόλπος.
• The noun is derived from the verb.