Where does “Lam” come from?
Lam is an English surname derived from Cantonese 林, a Chinese family name historically meaning "forest."
Lam (English): To beat or thrash
Definitions
- To beat or thrash
Ancestry of “Lam”, step by step
Lam traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English lamen
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | lamen | — |
| 2 | Old English | lemian | to lame |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | lamjaną | to bash, hit; to lame, cripple |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 7 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via Arabic لَام
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arabic | لَام | — |
via Cantonese 林
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cantonese | 林 | — |