Where does “maelstrom” come from?
Maelstrom comes from Dutch maelstrom, from Dutch stroom meaning stream, combined with Middle Dutch mālen, from Old Dutch malan and Old Dutch māl, tracing to Proto-Indo-European srowmos and ser-.
maelstrom (English): A large and violent whirlpool; Any violent or...
Definitions
- A large and violent whirlpool; Any violent or...
Ancestry of “maelstrom”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dutch | maelstrom | — |
| 2 | Dutch | stroom | A flow, current or flush, as of moving water or... |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | strôom | A stream |
| 4 | Old Dutch | strōm | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | straum | stream |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | straumaz | stream, current, river |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | srowmos | river |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | srew- | to flow, stream |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ser- | to flow; to guard; to bind, to tie together |