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)/
• IPA^(key): /ˈwɔːm(ə)/, /ˈwoːm(ə)/

Noun

wombe (plural wombes or womben)

1. 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.

   1. The stomach of livestock used as food.
   2. (figurative) One's diet, nutritional habits or lifestyle.
2. The stomach (portion of a body between the torso and the chest):
   1. Something that resembles a stomach.
   2. The section of fur or coat taken from an animal's stomach.
   3. The foreside of the stomach or a creature in general.
3. The womb or uterus; the location where a baby gestates.
4. The digestive organs or entrails of an organism.
5. 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.