different between overwhelm vs whelm

English

Etymology

From Middle English overwhelmen, equivalent to over- +? whelm.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???v????lm/, /???v??w?lm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?o?v????lm/, /?o?v??w?lm/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /?ov????lm/
• Rhymes: -?lm

Verb

overwhelm (third-person singular simple present overwhelms, present participle overwhelming, simple past and past participle overwhelmed)

1. To engulf, surge over and submerge.

   Synonym: swamp

2. To overpower, crush.

   In December 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland with overwhelming force.

   • The sea overwhelmed their enemies.

3. To overpower emotionally.
4. To cause to surround, to cover.

   1684, Denis Papin, Instrument to make turpentine penetrate plaster and wood using the airpump

   • I lay Turpentine all over the same: then I overwhelm a broader pipe about the first

Derived terms

• overwhelming

Related terms

• whelm

Antonyms

• underwhelm

Translations

Noun

overwhelm (plural overwhelms)

1. The state or condition of being overwhelmed.

See also

• too many balls in the air

English

Etymology

From Middle English whelmen (“to turn over, capsize; to invert, turn upside down”), perhaps from Old English *hwealmnian, a variant of *hwealfnian, from hwealf (“arched, concave, vaulted; an arched or vaulted ceiling”), from Proto-Germanic *hwalb? (“arch, vault”), from Proto-Indo-European *k?elp- (“to curve”). The English word is cognate with German Walm (“a vaulted roof”), Icelandic hvolf (“vaulted ceiling”), Dutch welven (“to arch”), German wölben (“to bend, curve; to arch”), Icelandic hvelfa (“to overturn”), Old Saxon bihwelvian (“to cover; to hide”), Ancient Greek ?????? (kólpos, “bosom, hollow, gulf”).

The noun is derived from the verb.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: wh?lm, w?lm, IPA^(key): /??lm/, /w?lm/
• Rhymes: -?lm

Verb

whelm (third-person singular simple present whelms, present participle whelming, simple past and past participle whelmed)

1. (transitive, archaic) To bury, to cover; to engulf, to submerge.

   Synonyms: overwhelm, (Britain dialectal, Scotland) whemmel

   Antonym: unwhelm
2. (transitive, obsolete) To throw (something) over a thing so as to cover it.

   Synonym: (Britain dialectal, Scotland) whemmel
3. (transitive, obsolete) To ruin or destroy.
4. (intransitive, archaic) To overcome with emotion; to overwhelm.

Usage notes

Today, the verb overwhelm is much more common than whelm.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

whelm (plural whelms)

1. (poetic, also figuratively) A surge of water.

Translations

References