A.Word.A.Day --whelm

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Mar 25, 2024

This week’s theme
Verbing the noun, nouning the verb

This week’s words
whelm
kneecap
gegg
T-bone
manicure

Illustration: Anu Garg + AI

Previous week’s theme
Words made with letters that double as musical notes

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

In Shakespeare’s Coriolanus the title character says:

This last old man, ...
Loved me above the measure of a father;
Nay, godded me, indeed.

Sure, the Bard could have used the verb “deify” instead of turning god into a verb, but why not? It works. Besides, Anglo-Saxon terms make writing direct, compared to Latinate terms.

The verb god isn’t known widely, but that’s for the good anyway. We shouldn’t god anyone. All of us are imperfect.

But let’s not get sidetracked. This week we are talking about verbs that have been nouned and nouns that have been verbed.

And why not? Language is for work -- for getting things done -- and for fun. Even better if you can combine the two. What words have you used in different parts of speech than the usual? Share below or write to us at words@wordsmith.org. Include your location (city, state).

whelm

PRONUNCIATION:

(hwelm, welm)

MEANING:

verb tr.:	1. To submerge.
	2. To overcome; overwhelm.
noun:	An overwhelming or engulfing quantity of something.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English hwelman. Earliest documented use: verb 1300, noun 1576.

USAGE:

“Britain’s small but vocal freedom-of-information lobby has given the plans a cautious welcome. ... Nevertheless, much will remain whelmed in mystery.”
Fiat a Little More Lux; The Economist (London, UK); Jan 22, 2011.

“Though it seemed that the hen had survived the whelm of locusts, he stared at how lifeless it actually appeared.”
John LaChance; Primodeus; AuthorHouse; 2016.

See more usage examples of whelm in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers. -Robert Quillen, journalist and cartoonist (25 Mar 1887-1948)

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