eam
English
Etymology
From Middle English eem, eme, from Old English ēam (“maternal uncle”), from Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz (“maternal uncle”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwh₂os (“maternal uncle, maternal grandfather”). Cognate with Scots eme (“uncle”), West Frisian iem, omke (“uncle”), Dutch oom (“uncle”), German Ohm, Oheim (“maternal uncle”), Latin avunculus (“maternal uncle”). See uncle. Doublet of oom.
Noun
eam (plural eams)
- (dialectal or obsolete) Uncle.
- 2011, Ernest R. Holloway, Andrew Melville and Humanism in Renaissance Scotland 1545-1622:
- James Melville remarked that during his uncle's time in Geneva he became “weill acquented with my eam, Mr. hendrie Scrymgeour” and was said to have been “a frequent visitor at his lodgings in town, and also at the Violet.
Related terms
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈe.am/, [ˈeä̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈe.am/, [ˈɛːäm]
Pronoun
eam
Middle English
Old English
Etymology 1
Contracted from earlier *ēahām, from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim (“maternal uncle”).
See also Gothic 𐌰𐍅𐍉 (awō, “grandmother”); Latin avus (“grandfather”), avunculus (“uncle”), dialectal Russian уй (uj, “maternal uncle”), Ukrainian вуй (vuj, “uncle”), all from Proto-Indo-European *awos, *h₂éwh₂os (“maternal uncle, maternal grandfather”). The word is cognate with Old Frisian ēm, Middle Dutch oom (Dutch oom), Old High German oheim (German Oheim, Ohm).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /æ͜ɑːm/
Declension
Related terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *immi (“I am”), a form of *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“am”). More at am.
Alternative forms
- eom — West Saxon
- æm
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /æ͜ɑm/