kam

Forms

kam m (plural kammen, diminutive kammetje n)^[1] The original final /b/ survives only in the spelling camp of 1240 and 1462 and in Limburg kamp.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch cam, older camp, inherited from Old Dutch *kamb, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kamb, inherited from Proto-Germanic *kamba- (“comb”).^[2][1][5] The /mb/ was assimilated to /mm/; the older pronunciation /kamp/ shows only in ⟨camp⟩.^[2][6]

The same word is Old Saxon kamb, Old High German camb (modern German Kamm), Old Frisian kombu and kambu (recorded in runes in the 8th and 9th centuries), Old English camb, comb (modern English comb) and Old Norse kambr.^[2][7][5] It comes from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth, peg”), and the comb is named for its teeth: related are Ancient Greek γόμφος (gómphos, “wooden peg”), Lithuanian žambas (“sharp edge”), Albanian dhëmb (“tooth”), Tocharian A kam (“tooth”) and Tocharian B keme (“tooth”).^[2][1][8][3]

De Vries thought the senses “tooth” and “bite” could as well come from a nasalised form of a root for “branch, piece of wood”, which would also take in Latin gemma (“bud”);^[9][3] Franck–Van Wijk thought the Latin comparison less likely.^[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Limburg glossary of about 1240 gives cam for Latin pecten “comb” and camp for crista “crest”, beside the verb kemben “to comb”.^[10][2]

Semantic evolution

Already in the 13th century the word meant the weaver's comb or reed: ordinances of Bruges of 1277 order false reeds to be burnt.^[10] The crest of an animal follows in a West Flemish text of 1287, which gives the dragon a cam on its head.^[10] In 1343 a Holland text pays for the cammen, the cogs, of a horse mill.^[6] By extension the word came to mean anything comb-like, as the crest of a mountain in bergkam.^[2]

The verb kammen is a new derivative of the noun that replaced Middle Dutch kemben, later kemmen, the regular outcome of *kambjan-;^[2] kemmen lasted into the 17th century.^[2]

Dutch kam “cog of a wheel” was borrowed into French as came, whence Italian camma, and into English as cam (1777).^[9][11][12] It lives on in Afrikaans kam, Negerhollands and Berbice Dutch, and was borrowed into Sranan Tongo.^[1][11]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – Cam “comb” and camp “crest” are first recorded, in Limburg.^[10][2][13]
• 1277 – Bruges ordinances use the word for the weaver's reed.^[10]
• 1287 – A West Flemish text uses it for the crest of an animal.^[10]
• 1343 – A Holland text names the cogs of a mill wheel cammen.^[6]
• 1462 – The old form camp appears for the last time.^[2]
• 1777 – English cam is first recorded.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A comb, the toothed tool for untangling and arranging hair.^[14][15][1]
2. A decorative comb worn in the hair.^[14][4]
3. The fleshy red crest on the head of fowls.^[14][16]
4. A ridge, the line of the highest peaks of a mountain chain.^[14][16]
5. A hand of bananas on a bunch.^[14]
6. A tooth or cog of a wheel;^[14][1] (technical) a cam.^[14][1]
7. The bridge of a stringed instrument.^[14][1]
8. The reed or heddles of a loom.^[14][6]

Word family

• hanenkam
• kamhout
• bergkam
• haarkam
• kammen
• kamrad
• kamvaren
• roskam
• sierkam
• stofkam
• zakkam
• luizenkam
• netenkam

Usage notes

Iedereen (alles) over één kam scheren is to lump everyone (everything) together without distinction.^[14] Van Veen & Van der Sijs explain the kam as a weaver's reed, chosen coarse or fine for each cloth; the MNW connects the phrase with the comb used in shearing sheep, as in a Flemish text of 1340.^[7][6]

In southern Dutch, kam (Middle Dutch camme) also meant “brewery”.^[4][6][17] The ONW takes it for the same word as the comb, perhaps first an iron rack on which the brewing kettle hung, and finds it borrowed into Picard French cambe by 1145;^[17][6][18] Weijnen instead derives it from Old French cambe.^[17][6][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b c d Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
4. ^ a b c Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
7. ^ a b Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
8. ^ Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 184
9. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
11. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
15. ^ Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; anw.ivdnt.org
16. ^ a b WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
17. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org
18. ^ a b Weijnen, A. A. (2003), Etymologisch dialectwoordenboek, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu