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arm

/ɑːm/ noun

In Latin: bracchium Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about arm at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb.
  2. Any projection that is thought to resemble a human arm.
    the arm of the record player
  3. Any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting.
    he was licensed to carry a weapon

verb

  1. Prepare oneself for a military confrontation.
    The U.S. is girding for a conflict in the Middle East
  2. Supply with arms.
    The U.S. armed the freedom fighters in Afghanistan

Origin

From Middle English arm, from Old English earm (Anglian arm), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“a fitting, joint; arm, forequarter”), a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to join, fit together”). Akin to Dutch arm, German Arm, Yiddish אָרעם (orem), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish arm. Indo-European cognates include Latin armus (“the uppermost part of the arm, shoulder”), Bulgarian рамо (ramo), Polish ramię, Serbo-Croatian rȁme, Armenian արմունկ (armunk, “elbow”), Ancient Greek ἁρμός (harmós, “joint, shoulder”) and ἅρμα (hárma, “wagon, chariot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬨𐬀 (arma), Old Persian [script needed] (arma).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)