eldertongue

Old English · noun

helm

Part of speech
noun, masculine
Declension
strong a-stem
IPA
/xelm/
[heɫm]
Syllables
xelm (1 syllable)
Modern English
helmethelmdefencesummit

Meaning

  1. helmet

    Đā andwyrde Martinus unforht ðām cāsere, "Iċ wille ðurhgān orsorh ðone here, mid rōde tācne ġewǣpnod, nā mid rēadum sċylde, oððe mid hefeġum helme, oððe heardre byrnan." Đa hēt sē hǣðena cyning healdan Martinum, þæt hē wurde āworpen unġewǣpnod ðām here. Þā nolde sē Hǣlend his ðeġen forlǣtan, ac ġesibbode þæt folc sōna þǣs on merien, þæt hī tō þǣs cāseres cyneġyrd

    Then the bold Martinus answered the emperor "I will go fearlessly through the army, armed with a crucifix, not with a red shield, nor with a heavy helmet, nor a hard corselet." So the heathen king ordered that Martinus be held so he could be thrown unarmed into the army. But the Savior would not abandon his servant, and in the morning soon pacified the people so that they submitted to the emperor'

    Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
  2. protection, defence

  3. covering, crown

    Hwīlon cōm sē dēofol, on ānre dīgelnysse, mid purpuran ġescrȳd, and mid helme ġeglenġd, tō ðām hālgan were, þǣr hē hine ġebǣd, and cwæð, þæt hē wǣre witodlīċe sē Hǣlend.

    Once the Devil came, shrouded in a purple garment and adorned with a crown, to the holy man in a recess where he was praying, and said that he was truly the Savior.

    Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
  4. summit, top (of trees)

  5. protector, lord

Declension

Declension of helm
SingularPlural
Nominative helmhelmas
Accusative helmhelmas
Genitive helmeshelma
Dative helmehelmum

All forms (6)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (“helmet”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, to hide”). Compare Old Frisian helm, Old Saxon helm, Old High German helm, Old Norse hjalmr, Gothic (hilms).

Descendants

helm

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/helm · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution