cwm
English
WOTD – 23 July 2010
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Welsh cwm (“valley”). Doublet of combe.
Pronunciation
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /kuːm/, /kʊm/[1][2][3][4]
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Homophones: combe, coom, khoum (some pronunciations)
- Rhymes: -uːm
Noun
cwm (plural cwms)
- A valley head created through glacial erosion and with a shape similar to an amphitheatre.
Translations
valley head created through glacial erosion
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References
- ^ The Chambers Dictionary, 9th Ed., 2003
- ^ “cwm”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- ^ “cwm”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.. Accessed 7 September 2013.
- ^ “cwm”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
Further reading
Welsh
Etymology
From Middle Welsh cwm, from Proto-Brythonic *komm, from Proto-Celtic *kumbā.
See also Breton komm (“trough”), Irish com, coim (“chest cavity”), French combe, English coomb and Old English cumb (“hollow; narrow valley”), Dutch kom (“bowl, basin”), German Kumpf (“vessel”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “hollow”),Sanskrit कुम्भ (kumbha, “a pot, jug”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kʊm/
- Rhymes: -ʊm
Noun
cwm m (plural cymau or cymoedd or cymydd)
Descendants
- → English: cwm
Mutation
| radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
|---|---|---|---|
| cwm | gwm | nghwm | chwm |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
References
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “cwm”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies