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dam

Etymology and origin of the English word dam

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English has two words spelled dam: a barrier holding back water, of Germanic origin, and the mother of an animal, a variant of dame.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdæm/ (UK); /ˈdæm/ (US)[4]

dam1 barrier holding back water

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1325
Borrowed from
Old Norse dammr
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic (*dammaz)

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Old Norse dammr or Middle Dutch dam,[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *dammaz, source also of Old Frisian damm and German Damm,[2][1] of unknown origin.[2][3] It is perhaps also from or reinforced by the Old English verb fordemman, to stop up.[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The body of water held back by a dam: about 1325–40;[7][1] the barrier itself probably before 1400, about 1440 in the OED.[1][7] It appears earlier in mill-dam (12th century) and as a surname (1230).[3][1]

Semantic evolution

A beavers' dam is from 1748, and a causeway through fens from 1809.[7] The figurative sense is from 1602.[7] The verb, to obstruct a flow with a dam, is from about 1400.[2][5] In Yorkshire and elsewhere the water held back is still called the dam.[7]

Timeline

  • 12th century – mill-dam.[3]
  • 1230 – Dam, a surname.[1]
  • c. 1325 – the water held back.[7]
  • c. 1400 – the barrier; the verb.[1][2]
  • 1748 – a beaver dam.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A barrier built across a river or stream to hold back water, as to form a reservoir.
  2. A reservoir or body of water held back by such a barrier.

Verb

  1. To build a dam across; to hold back by a dam.

Word family

  • mill-dam
  • cofferdam
  • beaver dam

dam2 mother of an animal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
c. 1200

Etymology

It is a variant of dame, lady, mother.[1][2][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mother, or a mother superior: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle;[1] as dame, before 1325.[1]

Semantic evolution

At first dam was used in all the senses of dame (lady, female ruler, housewife, mother),[1][2] but the two forms diverged by the 16th century, and since then any use of dam for women has been slighting.[2] The mother of a four-footed animal, especially of horses and cattle, is from the mid-15th century.[2][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – a mother.[1]
  • mid-15th century – an animal's mother.[2]
  • 16th century – the forms dam and dame diverge.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The female parent of an animal, especially a domestic mammal such as a horse.
  • dame
  • madam
  • dike

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

  • ted · also from Old Norse
  • dirt · also from Old Norse
  • slight · also from Old Norse
  • carl · also from Old Norse
  • clip · also from Old Norse
  • bulk · also from Old Norse
  • cow · also from Old Norse
  • haven · also from Old Norse
Cite this entry

“Dam.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/dam. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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