Where does “lấm lem” come from?

lấm lem (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese làm, from French lamé, from French -é, from Middle French -é, from Old French -é, from Latin -a, from Proto-Italic -ā, from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂.

lấm lem (Vietnamese): smudged, dirty

Definitions

  1. smudged, dirty

Ancestry of “lấm lem”, step by step

lấm lem traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese làm

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnameselàmto do; to make; to work
2Frenchlamépast participle of lamer
3Frenchpast participle root verb suffix of regular -er...
4Middle Frenchpast participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n
5Old Frenchused to form past participles of regular -er...
6Latin-asuffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent...
7Proto-ItalicForms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases
8Proto-Indo-European-éh₂

via Vietnamese lem

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnameselemsmudged, soiled
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂Every word from Latin -aEvery word from French
lấm lem — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer