Etymograph

English

corm

Corm comes from Latin cormus, from Ancient Greek κορμός ‘trunk stripped of its boughs’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-1‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kormós1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκορμός2kormós‘trunk stripped of its boughs’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcormus2
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2002corm2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κορμός
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English corm
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, Victoria Finlay, Colour: “The saffron crocus has to be planted by hand…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek κορμός‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kormósWiktionary, Ancient Greek κορμόςreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκορμόςWiktionary, English cormkormós‘trunk stripped of its boughs’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcormusWiktionary, English corm
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2002cormWiktionary, English corm. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, Victoria Finlay, Colour: “The saffron crocus has to be planted by hand…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’

across, share, card, cross, short, cancer, screen, shirt, circle, circuit, crucial, score, curve, scare, circus, circulation, skirt, carnival, curb, scar, cancellation, scrutiny, shrine, crest, circa, shear, incarceration, shred, carnage, raffle, circulate, carcinoma, shrewd, crux, shard, carnal, cirque, coronary, riddance, scorpion, 118 more

Today it means

noun A short, vertical, swollen, underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as drought.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “corm”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek κορμός. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / corm

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