| 1 | Middle English | arm | arm; poor; miserable, wretched |
| 2 | Old English | earm | arm; poor, miserable |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | arm | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | armaz | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ermos | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |