lame English · revision 10784

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=ang lama}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /leɪm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|lama|t=crippled, lame, paralytic, weak]] (about 750),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|gem-pro|*lamô]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) cognate with [[nl|lam]], [[de|lahm]] and [[non|lami]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Outside Germanic it is related to [[lt|limti|t=to break down]] and [[cu|ломити|tr=lomiti|t=to break]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from a root meaning to break or soft.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Crippled or impaired, weak, unable to move: about 725 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it meant especially crippled in the feet, but also in the hands, or disabled by disease.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense, imperfect, halting, weak (''a lame excuse''), is attested from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) As a noun for crippled people collectively it is from late Old English.^(Etymonline) The verb, to injure or cripple, is from about 1300, in Havelok the Dane.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The slang sense, socially awkward or uncool, is attested from 1942,^(Etymonline) and the noun, an unsophisticated person, from 1959 in American slang.^(OED 1989) A ''lame duck'' is a weak or ineffectual person, or an official whose term is ending.^(AHD)^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – crippled.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – to lame (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – feeble, unconvincing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1942 – socially awkward (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Unable to walk normally because of an injury or condition of the leg or foot.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Weak and unconvincing: ''a lame excuse''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' Dull or uncool.^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make lame; to [[cripple]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lamely]]

+ * [[lameness]]

+ * [[unlame]]

+ * [[lamebrain]]

+ * [[lame duck]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Lamé, a fabric woven with metallic threads (1918–22), and lame, a thin metal plate in armour, are separate words, from French lame, from Latin lāmina.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}