helm

A stalk of corn, or (uncountable) stalks of corn collectively (that is, straw), especially when bundled together or laid out straight to be used for thatching roofs.

Noun archaic, poetic

  1. A helmet.
    • Their plumed helmes are wrought with beaten golde, / Their ſwords enameld, and about their neckes / Hangs maſſie chaines of golde downe to the waſte, / In euery part exceding braue and rich. - c. 1587–1588 (date...
    • O're Shields and Helmes, and helmed heads he rode / Of Thrones and mighty Seraphim proſtrate, / That vviſh'd the Mountains novv might be again / Throvvn on them as a ſhelter from his ire. - 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”,...
    • The maſſy golden Helm ſhe next aſſumes, / That dreadful nods vvith four o'erſhading Plumes; / So vaſt, the broad Circumference contains / A hundred Armies on a hundred Plains. - 1716, Homer, translated by Alexander...
  2. Synonym of helmet (“the feature above a shield on a coat of arms”).

    Synonyms: helmet

  3. A shelter for cattle or other farm animals; a hemmel, a shed.
  4. ) A heavy cloud lying on the brow of a mountain, especially one associated with a storm.
    • Then ancient Skiddaw, stern and proud, / In sullen majesty replying, / Thus spake from out of his helm of cloud […] - 1800 November (date written; published 1806), Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “[Sibylline Leaves.] A...
  5. The crown or top of something.
  6. The upper part or cap of an alembic or retort.
    • The Dragons teeth, Mercurie ſublimate, / That keepes the vvhiteneſſe, hardneſſe and the biting; / And they are gather’d, into Iaſon’s helme, / (Th’Alembeke) and then ſovv’d in Mars his field, / And, thence, ſublim’d ſo...

Origin

From Middle English helm (“helmet; crown of thorns of Jesus; warrior; inn or shop sign”) [and other forms], from Old English helm (“helmet”), from Proto-West Germanic *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (“protective covering”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelmos, from the root *ḱel- (“to cover”). Doublet of heaume and related to helmet. Cognates * Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐌼𐍃 (hilms) * Old Frisian helm (West Frisian helm) * Old High German helm (Middle High German helm, modern German Helm; Italian elmo; Old French helme, modern French heaume; Spanish yelmo) * Old Norse hjalmr (Danish hjelm, Norwegian hjelm, Swedish hjälm) * Old Saxon helm (Low German Helm, Middle Dutch helm, modern Dutch helm)

Forms

helms

Derived

behelm helmed

Noun nautical, transport

  1. The tiller (or, in a large ship, the wheel) which is used to steer the rudder of a marine vessel; also, the entire steering apparatus of a vessel.
    • Ye this is both helme & stern of al together: & that which they contended right sore to impugn, but loue of the truth, wherwith in this poynte I reckened me wel fēsed, wold not suffer me to apply & yeld to their wil,...
    • Nor is this vveather rare about the Æquinoctiall; by Mariners termed the Tornadoes: and tis ſo vncertaine, that novv you ſhall haue a quiet breath and gale, and ſuddenly an vnexpected violent guſt, and ſtorme, ſo...
    • Fair laughs the Morn, and ſoft the Zephyr blovvs, / VVhile proudly riding o'er the azure realm / In gallant trim the gilded Veſſel goes; / Youth on the provv, and Pleaſure at the helm; […] - 1755–1757 (date written),...
  2. The use of a helm (sense 1); also, the amount of space through which a helm is turned.
  3. The member of a vessel's crew in charge of steering the vessel; a helmsman or helmswoman.

    Synonyms: helmsperson

  4. Something used to control or steer; also (obsolete), a handle of a tool or weapon; a haft, a helve.
    • A great axe first she gave, that two ways cut, / In which a fair well-polish'd helm was put, / That from an olive bough receiv'd his frame. - 1614–1615, Homer, “The Fifth Book of Homer’s Odysseys”, in Geo[rge] Chapman,...
  5. A position of control or leadership.
    • the helm of the Commonwealth
    • Biſhop [William] Laud of London is alſo povverful in his VVay, for he ſits at the Helm of the Church, and doth more than any of the tvvo Archbiſhops, or all the reſt of his tvvo and tvventy Brethren beſides. - 1629...
    • [Avram] Grant will be desperate to finish the job of getting West Ham to their first Wembley cup final in 30 years when they meet Birmingham in the second leg at St Andrews on 26 January; though arguably of more...
  6. One in the position of controlling or directing; a controller, a director, a guide.
    • [Y]ou ſlander / The Helmes o'th State: vvho care for you like Fathers, / VVhen you curſe them, as Enemies. - c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares...

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English helm, helme (“tiller of a ship”), from Old English helma (“helm, tiller”), from Proto-Germanic *helmô (“handle; helm, tiller”), either from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”) or from the same source as haulm and helm (“bentgrass, straw”) (see below), Proto-Indo-European *ḱélh₂-m(on)- (“reed, hollow stalk”), one form of which then developed a specialized meaning “handle” in Germanic. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * German Holm (“beam”) * Old Norse hjálm

Forms

helms

Derived

answer the helm at the helm autohelm barrel helm behelmed close helm dishelm great helm helmage helmless helm port helm-port helmsman helmsperson helmswoman take the helm unhelm uphelm weather helm

Noun Entry 3

  1. A stalk of corn, or (uncountable) stalks of corn collectively (that is, straw), especially when bundled together or laid out straight to be used for thatching roofs.

    Synonyms: thatch yelm

  2. Alternative form of haulm (“the stems of various cultivated plants, left after harvesting the crop, which are used as animal food or litter, or for thatching”).
    • The sheriff, John Griffith, had prepared green wood to burn him; but one master John Pikes, pitying the man, caused divers to go with him to Ridland, half a mile off, who brought good store of helme-sheaves, which...
  3. Synonym of bentgrass (“any of numerous reedy grass species of the genus Agrostis”)
    • The Italians, and Spaniards, call it Sparto, and the ſecond ſort Albardi, The Dutch Halm. And vve in Engliſh, Helme, and Matvveede, but the people all along the Coaſts of Norfolke and Suffolke, call it Marram, and may...

    Synonyms: bentgrass

Origin

The noun is possibly: * a variant of haulm; or * from its etymon Middle English halm, helm, Early Middle English healm (“straw, stubble; stalk (?); handle of a tool or weapon”) [and other forms], from Old English healm (“stalk of a grass or plant; hay, straw, stubble”) or an unattested variant *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (see Proto-West Germanic *helm) or *halmaz (“stalk of a grass or plant; hay, straw”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelh₂- (“to prick, stab, stick”). The verb is either derived from the noun, or is possibly a variant of yelm. Cognates Dutch helm (“haulm”); helm, hellem, hellim (“straw”) (dialectal) Low German helm (“haulm”) (hallem (Heligoland), halm (Holstein))

Forms

helms

Verb nautical, transport

  1. To control the helm (noun sense 1) of (a marine vessel); to be in charge of steering (a vessel).
    • [A] wild wave in the wild North-sea, / […] overbears the bark, / And him that helms it, […] - 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 172:
    • For this light he steered, and soon he saw two tall pillars of flame blazing beside each other, with a narrow space of night between them. He helmed the ship towards these, and when he came near them they were like two...
  2. To direct or lead (a project, etc.); to manage (an organization).
    • Ile ſtriue to be nor great nor ſmale, / To liue nor die, fate helmeth all, / VVhen I can breath no longer, then, / Heauen take all, there put Amen. - 1601 (date written), Iohn Marston [i.e., John Marston], What You...
    • The very ſtreame of his life, and the buſineſſe he hath helmed, muſt vppon a vvarranted neede, giue him a better proclamation. - c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William...
    • But we hold / Thou art forsworn; and no forsworn Archbishop / Shall helm the Church. - 1884, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Becket, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, Act I, scene iii, page 66:

Forms

helms helming helmed no-table-tags glossary helm helmest helmedst helmeth -

Derived

helmer

Verb archaic, poetic

  1. To cover (a head) with a helmet; to provide (someone) with a helmet; to helmet.
    • Oh Noble Conon, / You taught my tender Hands the Trade of VVar; / And novv again you Helm your hoary Head, / And under double vveight of Age and Arms, / Aſſert your Countries Freedom, and my Crovvn. - c. 1684 – 1691...
    • Then from the bank / He sprung, and helm'd his head. - 1796, Robert Southey, “Book the Seventh”, in Joan of Arc, an Epic Poem, Bristol: […] Bulgin and Rosser, for Joseph Cottle, […], and Cadell and Davies, and G. G. and...

    Synonyms: behelm

Origin

From Middle English helmen, helmi (“to provide with a helmet; (figuratively) to cover; to protect”), from Old English helmian (“to cover”), ġehelmian (“to cover with a helmet; to crown”), from (ġe- (prefix with an intensifying effect, or forming nouns or verbs denoting processes or results) +) helm (“helmet”) (see further at etymology 2) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns).

Forms

helms helming helmed

Verb Entry 6

  1. To lay out (stalks of corn, or straw) straight to be used for thatching roofs; to yelm.

Forms

helms helming helmed