Where does “lam” come from?
lam (Afrikaans) comes from Dutch lam, from Middle Dutch lam, from Old Dutch lam, from Proto-West Germanic *lam, from Proto-Germanic lamaz, from Proto-Indo-European h₃lemH- — broken; weak, broken, soft.
lam (Afrikaans): lamb
Ancestry of “lam”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | lam | lamb, the young of a sheep; The meat - or... |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | lam | lamb; lame; weak, strengthless |
| 3 | Old Dutch | lam | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *lam | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | lamaz | lame; withered, defective |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃lemH- | broken; weak, broken, soft |