loom
UK /luːm/ · US /lum/ noun, verb
Forms looms looming loomed
- noun A utensil; tool; a weapon; (usually in compound) an article in general.
- noun A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.
- noun The part of an oar which is between the grip or handle and the blade; the shaft.
- noun (dated) loon (bird of order Gaviiformes)
- verb To appear indistinctly, e.g. when seen on the horizon or through the murk. “The clouds loomed over the mountains.”
- verb (figurative) To appear in an exaggerated or threatening form; (of a person or thing) to tower; (of an idea) to impressively or intimidatingly occupy the mind; (of an event) to be imminent.
- verb (figurative) To rise and to be eminent; to be elevated or ennobled, in a moral sense.
- noun A distorted appearance of something as seen indistinctly or from afar.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English lome, from Old English *lōma, ġelōma (“tool, utensil, implement, article of furniture, household effect”) (also as andlōma, andġelōma, andlama (“utensil, instrument, implement, tool, vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *lōmō, *lamō (“tool, utensil”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Dutch alaam, allaam (“tool, household ware or good, appliance”), from Middle Dutch andlame. Perhaps originally meaning "a thing of frequent use, thing repeatedly needed", in which case, akin to Old English ġelōme (“often, frequently, continually, repeatedly”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + *lōmiz, *lōmijaz (“lame, halt”), from Proto-Indo-European *lem- (“to break, soften”).
Compare Old High German giluomo, kilōmo (“often, frequently”), Old High German luomen (“to wear out, fatigue”), Old High German *luomī (as in gastluomī (“hospitality”), Old English lama (“lame”). See lame.
Outside Proto-Germanic cognate with Russian ломи́ть (lomítʹ, “to break”), лома́ть (lomátʹ, “to break, to fracture”), ле́мех (lémex, “ploughshare”).
Compare typologically Serbo-Croatian ра́збо̄ј (“loom (weaving frame)”) akin to ра̀збити (“to break, to smash, to crack”).
Shetland dialect, denoting a diver or guillemot, from Old Norse lómr, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (“to howl”) (expressive root).
Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Old Norse ljóma (“to shine, radiate”). Alternatively, perhaps related to Saterland Frisian loomje (“to limp, hobble”), German Low German lahmen (“to limp, hobble”), Swedish loma (“to go slowly”), Middle Dutch loemen (“to wreck, spoil”), Middle High German lüemen (“to become weak, limp, tire”); see English lame.
Webster’s 1913
- noun See Loon, the bird.
- noun A frame or machine of wood or other material, in which a weaver forms cloth out of thread; a machine for interweaving yarn or threads into a fabric, as in knitting or lace making.
- noun That part of an oar which is near the grip or handle and inboard from the rowlock. Totten.
- verb To appear above the surface either of sea or land, or to appear enlarged, or distorted and indistinct, as a distant object, a ship at sea, or a mountain, esp. from atmospheric influences; as, the ship looms large; the land looms high.
Etymology [OE. lome, AS. gel utensil, implement.]
Etymology [OE. lumen to shine, Icel. ljoma; akin to AS. leóma light, and E. light; or cf. OF. lumer to shine, L. luminare to illumine, lumen light; akin to E. light. Light not dark.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “loom”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details