Where does “wem” come from?
wem (Middle English) comes from Old English womm, from Proto-Germanic wammaz, from Proto-Indo-European wemh₁- — to spew, to vomit.
Ancestry of “wem”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | womm | — |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | wammaz | spot, stain, blemish |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | wemh₁- | to spew, to vomit |