Wams

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German wambes, wambeis, from Old French wambais, from Medieval Latin wambāsium, bambāsium. This is predominantly considered a derivative of Frankish *wamba, from Proto-Germanic *wambō (“belly, womb”), making Wams a doublet of Wamme (“dewlap”) and Wampe (“potbelly, paunch”). Alternative etymology derives it from Latin bambax (“coton”), from Ancient Greek πάμβαξ (pámbax), in which case, however, the Romance w- is difficult to explain. More at gambeson.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /vams/, [vams], [ʋams], [-amps]
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Wams n (strong, genitive Wamses, plural Wämser, diminutive Wämschen n)

  1. (historical) jerkin, doublet

Usage notes
  • In obsolete usage this could also be masculine, especially in northern and central Germany, with plural Wämse.

Declension
Declension of Wams [neuter, strong]
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein das Wams die Wämser
genitive eines des Wamses der Wämser
dative einem dem Wams, Wamse1 den Wämsern
accusative ein das Wams die Wämser

1Now rare, see notes.

Descendants
  • → Saterland Frisian: Wams

References
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.