vëllam

• vëllamë
• vllam, vllamë — dialectal

From vëlla (“brother”). The secondary sense “best man” is shared with Macedonian побратим (pobratim, literally “blood brother”).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

• IPA^(key): /vəˈɫam/
• (Arvanitika) IPA^(key): [vəˈɣaːm]
• Rhymes: -am

vëllam m (plural vëllamë, definite vëllami, definite plural vëllamët)

1. blood brother (non-related, by oath)

   Synonym: probatin

   bëhem vëllam me ― fraternise with

2. best man
3. (dialectal) fraternisation, adelphopoiesis

   Synonym: vëllamëri

• → Aromanian: avlami
• → Greek: βλάμης (vlámis)

• “vëllám,~i”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[1], 1980, page 2155a
• Mann, S. E. (1948) “vllam”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 561
• Leotti, Angelo (1916) “vëllám-i”, in L'albanese parlato (in Italian), Milan: U. Hoepli, page 183
• Weigand, Gustav (1914) “vëllā-j […] vëllám-i”, in Albanesisch–deutsches und deutsch–albanesisches Wörterbuch (in German), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, page 99a
• Kristoforidhi, Kostandin (1904) “βε̯λάμι”, in Λεξικὸν τῆς Ἀλβανικῆς γλώσσης [Lexikòn tês Albanikês glṓssēs] (in Greek), Athens, page 19
• Meyer, G. (1891) “vɛłā́”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 469