wombe
Middle English
Alternative forms
- wambe, womb, wame, woombe, wome, uombe, wompe, wamb
Etymology
From Old English womb, wamb, from Proto-West Germanic *wambu, from Proto-Germanic *wambō. The final vowel is generalised from the Old English inflected forms.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈwɔːmb(ə)/, /ˈwaːmb(ə)/
- (later) IPA(key): /ˈwɔːm(ə)/, /ˈwoːm(ə)/
Noun
wombe (plural wombes or womben)
- The stomach (digestive organ):
- 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Jonah II:
- And þe Lord made redi a gret fish þat he shulde swolewe Ionas; and Ionas was in wombe of þe fish þre daȝes and þre niȝtis.
- The stomach of livestock used as food.
- (figurative) One's diet, nutritional habits or lifestyle.
- 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Jonah II:
- The stomach (portion of a body between the torso and the chest):
- Something that resembles a stomach.
- The section of fur or coat taken from an animal's stomach.
- The foreside of the stomach or a creature in general.
- The womb or uterus; the location where a baby gestates.
- The digestive organs or entrails of an organism.
- The hollow inside or interior of something.
Derived terms
- wombed
Descendants
- English: womb
- Scots: wame, wam
References
- “wōmb(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-23.