Cognate Set 348 – Meaning: worm

IE-CoR reference form:
*u̯r̥mi-
IE-CoR reference language:
Proto-Indo-European
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Proposed as cognate to:
*kʷr̥mi- [Proto-Indo-European] scale: 2
Justification:
Two variants *kʷr̥mi- and *u̯r̥mi- in the same meaning 'worm' are generally reconstructed for PIE. The variant *u̯r̥mi- attested in Germanic and Italic might have been secondary from *kʷr̥mi- (cf. {de Vaan 2008}:665), but it may also be possible that the two lexemes were a rhyming pair already in Indo-European poetic language (cf. Watkins 1987:288). Cf. also Lehmann 1986:397, Kroonen 2013:600).
Found in clades:
Germanic, Italic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 2 clades by 33 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
108   Danish orm ˈoɐ̯ˀm
114   Dutch worm wɔrm
110   English worm wɜːm
115   Flemish worm
135   French ver vɛːʁ vɛʁ
112   Frisian wjirm vjɪrm
120   German Wurm ˈvʊɐm ˈvʊʁm
127   Italian verme ˈvɛrme ˈvɛrme
129   Ladin verm ˈvɛrm
132   Sardinian: Logudoro berme ˈbɛrmɛ ˈbɛrmɛ
131   Sardinian: Nuoro erme ˈɛlmɛ ˈɛlmɛ
136   Walloon vièr vjɛʁ vjɛʁ
119   Luxembourgish Wuerm vuəm vuəm is the PIE Form not g(w)e/orm-?
122   Latin uermis ˈwermis ˈwermis G.sg. uermis
128   Friulian vier ˈvjaːr ˈvjɛr
143   Portuguese verme ˈvɛɾmɨ ˈvɛɾmɨ
101   Icelandic ormur ˈɔrmʏr
123   Romanian vierme ˈvjeɾme ˈvjerme
126   Neapolitan verme ˈvɛrmə ˈvɛrmə
133   Old French verm
134   Anglo-Norman verm
138   Franco-Provençal véh ˈvex ˈvex
121   German: Bernese Wurm ʋ̥ʊrm ʋ̥ʊrm
137   Old Occitan verme all kinds of long invertebrates that 'walk' with their bellies. Both earth and intestinal
125   Dalmatian: Vegliote vi̯arm vjarm
117   Old High German uurm wurm wurm
118   Middle High German wurm wurm wurm
109   Old English wyrm wyrm wyrm
116   Old Saxon uuurm wurm wurm
113   Middle Dutch worm worm worm
100   Old Icelandic ormr ormr ormr
124   Megleno-Romanian ǵérmu
130   Milanese vèrman ˈvɛrman
References
  • Kroonen, Guus: 600
    S.v. Proto-Germanic *wurmi- 'worm', from PIE *urm-i- and identical to Lat. vermis 'worm, maggot' < *urmi-, further cf. Gk. ῥόμος 'wood-worm' < *urm-o- (with dialectal vocalisation of *r̥?); Lith. var̃mas 'insect, mosquito' < *uorm-o-; OCS vьrmьje 'insects' < *urm-io-; OPru. wormyan (adj.) 'red' < urm-io-).
  • Lehmann, Winfred P.: 397
    S.v. Goth. W42. waurms 'ὄφις', 'snake', from PIE *u̯er- 'turn, wind' (cf. Gk. Hesych. ῥόμος· σκώληξ ἐν ξύλοις 'woodworm', Lith. var̃mas 'mosquito', Lat. vermis 'worm', OSl. vermije 'grasshoppers, insects').
  • Watkins, Calvert: 288
    "[T]he word for 'worm, serpent, dragon' [in Germanic] is Old English wyrm, Old Norse ormr, Old Saxon and Old High German wurm, Gothic waurms: Germanic *wurmiz exactly cognate with Latin vermis, and presupposing Indo-European *u̯r̥mis. The word is a rhyme formation in Indo-European to *kʷr̥mis, probably for reason of tabu; kʷr̥mis is found in Celtic, Balto-Slavic, Albanian and Indo-Iranian. The usual meaning of *kʷr̥mis is just 'worm' in most traditions, but in Middle Iranian it is also the word for 'dragon'; compare the Pahlavi version of the familiar Indo-European formula: kirm ōzat 'slew the dragon' (Kārnāmak IX). There can be no doubt that in *u̯r̥mis/*kʷr̥mis we have two variants of the same designation of the Indo-European mythological serpent-adversary."
  • de Vaan, Michiel: 665
    S.v. Lat. vermis 'worm, maggot', from PIE *u̯r̥mi- 'snake, worm' (cf. Goth. waurms 'snake', OIc. ormr, OEng. wyrm, OFr. wirm 'snake', OS wormo, OHG wurm, 'worm' < PGmc. *wurma/i-). Cf. the PIE doublet *kʷrmi- 'worm, maggot', possibly secondarily from PIE *kʷrmi- > *wrmi- in Lat. and Germanic.