Where does “arm” come from?
arm (Middle Low German) comes from Old Saxon arm, from Proto-West Germanic arm, from Proto-Germanic armaz, from Proto-Indo-European h₂ermos, from Proto-Indo-European h₂er- — to fit, to fix, to put together.
arm (Middle Low German): poor
Ancestry of “arm”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Saxon | arm | arm; miserable, poor |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | arm | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | armaz | arm; poor, miserable; pitiful, pitiable |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ermos | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂er- | to fit, to fix, to put together |