Lam | Etymology, Origin And Meaning Of Lam By Etymonline

AdvertisementRemove Ads

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of lam

lam(n.)

"flight, escape," as in on the lam, 1928, in pickpocket slang, from a U.S. slang verb meaning "to run off" (1886), which is of uncertain origin, but perhaps from lam (v.), used in British student slang for "to beat" since 1590s (compare lambaste); if so, the word has the same etymological sense as the slang expression beat it. A list of criminal slang from 1897 includes do a lam "run."

also from 1928

lam(v.)

also lamm, "to thrash, beat," 1590s, a slang, provincial or colloquial word, probably from Old Norse lemja "to beat," literally "to lame," which is cognate with the native verb lame (see lame (adj.)). Related: Lammed; lamming.

also from 1590s

Entries linking to lam

lambaste(v.)

1630s, apparently from baste "to thrash" (see baste (v.3)) + the obscure verb lam "to beat, to lame" or the related Elizabethan noun lam "a heavy blow" (implied by 1540s in puns on lambskin), for which see lamb. "In sailors' use, to beat with a rope's end" [Century Dictionary].

Compare earlier lamback "to beat, thrash" (1580s, used in old plays). A dictionary from c. 1600 defines Latin defustare as "to lamme or bumbast with strokes." Related: Lambasted; lambasting.

lame(adj.)

"crippled or disabled by injury to or defect of a limb or limbs," especially "walking with difficulty," Middle English, from Old English lama "crippled, lame; paralytic, weak," from Proto-Germanic *lama- "weak-limbed," literally "broken." This is reconstructed (Watkins) to be from PIE root *lem- "to break; broken," with derivatives meaning "crippled" (source also of Old Church Slavonic lomiti "to break," Lithuanian luomas "lame").

In Middle English especially "crippled in the feet," but also "crippled in the hands; disabled by disease; maimed." The figurative sense of "imperfect, halting, defective in quality or quantity" is attested from late 14c. The sense of "socially awkward" is attested from 1942.

As a noun meaning "crippled persons collectively" it is attested from late Old English. To come by the lame post (17c.-18c.) was an old colloquialism in reference to tardy mails or news out-of-date.

Germanic cognates include Old Norse lami "lame, maimed," Dutch and Old Frisian lam, German lahm "lame."

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

More to explore

runOld English, "move swiftly by using the legs, go on legs more rapidly than walking," also "make haste, hurry; be active, pursue or follow a course," and, of inanimate things, "to move over a course." The modern verb is a merger of two related Old English words, in both of which tbunk1758, "sleeping-berth in a vessel," later in a railway car, etc., probably a shortened form of bunker (n.) in its sense of "seat." Bunk-bed (n.) attested by 1869...."nonsense," 1900, short for bunkum, phonetic spelling of Buncombe, a county in North Carolina. The usual story (attescapec. 1300, transitive and intransitive, "free oneself from confinement; extricate oneself from trouble; get away safely by flight (from battle, an enemy, etc.)," from Old North French escaper, Old French eschaper (12c., Modern French échapper), from Vulgar Latin *excappare, literalloamOld English lam "clay, mud, clayey or muddy earth," from Proto-Germanic *laimaz (source also of Old Saxon lemo, Dutch leem...lamentationDe Vaan compares Sanskrit rayati "barks," Armenian lam "to weep, bewail;" Lithuanian loti, Old Church Slavonic lajati "to...palmend of an oar; palm tree," from PIE root *pele- (2) "flat; to spread" (source also of Greek palamē "open hand," Old Irish lam...lamb"lamb," from Proto-Germanic *lambaz (source also of Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Gothic lamb, Middle Dutch, Dutch lam...feelOld English felan "to touch or have a sensory experience of; perceive, sense (something)," in late Old English "have a mental perception," from Proto-Germanic *foljanan (source also of Old Saxon gifolian, Old Frisian fela, Dutch voelen, Old High German vuolen, German fühlen "to ffleeOld English fleon, flion "take flight, fly from, avoid, escape" (contracted class II strong verb; past tense fleah, past participle flogen), from Proto-Germanic *fleuhanan "to run away" (source also of Old High German fliohan, Old Norse flöja, Old Frisian flia, Dutch vlieden, GerfeleOld English feola, fela (West Saxon), feolo, feolu (Mercian, Northumbrian), "much, many, in large amounts, very," from a common Germanic adjective from Proto-Germanic *felu (source also of Old Saxon filo, Dutch veel, German viel, Old Norse fiol, Gothic filu), from PIE root *pele-

Share lam

‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/lamCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/lam">Etymology of lam by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of lam. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved March 15, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/lamCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of lam," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed March 15, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/lam.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of lam." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/lam. Accessed 15 March, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of lam." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/lam (accessed March 15, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

TrendingDictionary entries near lam

• laker
• Lakshmi
• la-la
• lallation
• lallygag
• lam
• lama
• Lamarckian
• Lamaze
• lamb
• lambada

AdvertisementClose

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

CloseABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ