overwhelm
OH-ver-welm · verb
Origin
Overwhelm comes from Middle English overwhelmen, formed from over- and whelmen. Whelmen traces back through Old English hwealf, itself from Proto-Germanic roots related to *hwalbaz, while over- descends from Old English ofer-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upér.
This is Curio: one word's origin story, every morning. No feed, no backlog.
One short email each morning. Free; stop anytime. See a sample →
Journey
The word was already a combination in Middle English, joining the 'over' prefix to whelmen, so its two-part structure has stayed intact into modern English.
Related words
Overwhelm shares its 'over-' prefix with countless other English words built the same way.
More words
Nearby, A–Z