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
110   Danish orm ˈoɐ̯ˀm
116   Dutch worm wɔrm
112   English worm wɜːm
117   Flemish worm
136   French ver vɛːʁ vɛʁ
114   Frisian wjirm vjɪrm
122   German Wurm ˈvʊɐm ˈvʊʁm
129   Italian verme ˈvɛrme ˈvɛrme
131   Ladin verm ˈvɛrm
134   Sardinian: Logudoro berme ˈbɛrmɛ ˈbɛrmɛ
133   Sardinian: Nuoro erme ˈɛlmɛ ˈɛlmɛ
137   Walloon vièr vjɛʁ vjɛʁ
121   Luxembourgish Wuerm vuəm vuəm is the PIE Form not g(w)e/orm-?
124   Latin uermis ˈwermis ˈwermis G.sg. uermis
130   Friulian vier ˈvjaːr ˈvjɛr
144   Portuguese verme ˈvɛɾmɨ ˈvɛɾmɨ
103   Icelandic ormur ˈɔrmʏr
125   Romanian vierme ˈvjeɾme ˈvjerme
128   Neapolitan verme ˈvɛrmə ˈvɛrmə
135   Anglo-Norman verm
139   Franco-Provençal véh ˈvex ˈvex
123   German: Bernese Wurm ʋ̥ʊrm ʋ̥ʊrm
138   Old Occitan verme all kinds of long invertebrates that 'walk' with their bellies. Both earth and intestinal
127   Dalmatian: Vegliote vi̯arm vjarm
119   Old High German uurm wurm wurm
120   Middle High German wurm wurm wurm
111   Old English wyrm wyrm wyrm
118   Old Saxon uuurm wurm wurm
115   Middle Dutch worm worm worm
102   Old Icelandic ormr ormr ormr
101   Gothic waurms 𐍅𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌼𐍃 wɔrms wɔrms
126   Megleno-Romanian ǵérmu
132   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.