overwhelm (v.)

mid-14c., overwhelmen, "to turn upside down, overthrow, knock over," from over- + Middle English whelmen "to turn upside down" (see whelm). Meaning "to submerge completely" is early 15c. Perhaps the connecting notion is a boat, etc., washed over, and overset, by a big wave. Figurative sense of "to bring to ruin" is attested from 1520s. Related: Overwhelmed; overwhelming; overwhelmingly.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to overwhelm

overwhelmed (adj.)

mid-15c., "completely submerged or swamped," past-participle adjective from overwhelm. Figurative use by 1520s. Related: Overwhelmedness.

whelm (v.)

early 14c., probably from a parallel form of Old English -hwielfan (West Saxon), -hwelfan (Mercian), in ahwelfan "cover over;" probably altered by association with Old English helmian "to cover," from Proto-Germanic *hwalbjan, from PIE *kuolp- "to bend, turn" (see gulf (n.)).

underwhelm

over-

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Trends of overwhelm

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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overcome

Old English ofercuman "to reach, overtake, move or pass over," also "to conquer, prevail over, defeat in combat" (the Devil, evil spirits, sin, temptation, etc.), from ofer (see over) + cuman "to come" (see come (v.)). A common Germanic compound (Middle Dutch overkomen, Old High

overtake

"to come up to, catch up with, catch in pursuit," early 13c., from over- + take (v.). According to OED (1989), originally "the running down and catching of a fugitive or beast of chase"; the editors find the sense of over- in this word "not so clear." The meaning "take by surpris

deluge

late 14c., "an overflowing of water, a great flood, Noah's Flood in Genesis," from Old French deluge (12c.), earlier deluve, from Latin diluvium "flood, inundation," from diluere "wash away," from dis- "away" (see dis-) + -luere, combining form of lavere "to wash" (from PIE root

involve

envelop, surround; make cloudy or obscure," from Old French involver and directly from Latin involvere "envelop, surround, overwhelm...

transport

late 14c., "convey from one place to another," from Old French transporter "carry or convey across; overwhelm (emotionally...

perfidy

[C]ombinations of wickedness would overwhelm the world by the advantage which licentious principles afford, did not those...

mortify

late 14c., mortifien, "to kill, destroy the life of," from Old French mortefiier "destroy, overwhelm, punish," from Late...

submerge

c. 1600 (transitive), "cover with water, inundate" (implied in submerged); 1610s as "put under water, plunge;" from French submerger (14c.) or directly from Latin submergere "to plunge under, sink, overwhelm," from sub "under" (see sub-) + mergere "to plunge, immerse" (see merge)

fire

Old English fyr "fire, a fire," from Proto-Germanic *fūr- (source also of Old Saxon fiur, Old Frisian fiur, Old Norse fürr, Middle Dutch and Dutch vuur, Old High German fiur, German Feuer "fire"), from PIE *perjos, from root *paewr- "fire." Current spelling is attested as early a

rife

Old English rife "abundant, of common occurrence, prevalent," often of hurtful or obnoxious things, from Proto-Germanic *rif- (source also of Old Norse rifr, Swedish river, Norwegian riv, Middle Dutch riif, Middle Low German rive "abundant, generous"), said to be from PIE root *r

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updated on November 11, 2019

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