Where does “kīm” come from?
kīm (Middle High German) comes from Old High German kīmo, from Proto-West Germanic *kīmō, from Proto-Germanic kīmô, from Proto-Germanic kī-, from Proto-Indo-European gī- — to sing, to call, to shout.
Ancestry of “kīm”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old High German | kīmo | — |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | *kīmō | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | kīmô | sprout, germ |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | kī- | to split open, germinate, sprout |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | gī- | to sing, to call, to shout |