Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of clamber

clamber(v.)

"to climb with difficulty using hands and feet," late 14c., possibly a frequentative of Middle English climben "to climb" (past tense clamb), or akin to Old Norse klembra "to hook (oneself) on." With Germanic verbal suffix indicating repeated or diminutive action (see -er (4)). Related: Clambered; clambering.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to clamber

-er(4)

Germanic derivational suffix of verbs, indicating repeated or diminutive action, as in clamber, clatter, flicker (v.), glitter (v.), quaver, shimmer, slumber (v.), stutter (v.), wander, waver. Compare also snaker (Middle English snakeren) "to sneak, slink" (c. 1200), from Old Norse.

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trends of clamber

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    scramble
    1580s (intransitive), "make one's way by clambering, etc., struggle or wriggle along," also "strive with others or jostle and grasp rudely for a share or for mastery;" a word of obscure origin, perhaps a nasalized variant of scrabble (v.) "to struggle; to scrape quickly." OED poi
    shin
    Middle English shin, from Old English scinu "fore part of the leg below the knee; shinbone," from Proto-Germanic *skino "thin piece" (source also of Dutch scheen, Middle Low German schene, Old High German scina "shin," German Schienbein "shin, shinbones"), from PIE root *skei- "t
    skin
    c. 1200, "animal hide" (usually dressed and tanned), from Old Norse skinn "animal hide, fur," from Proto-Germanic *skinth- (source also of rare Old English scinn, Old High German scinten, German schinden "to flay, skin;" German dialectal schind "skin of a fruit," Flemish schinde
    mount
    c. 1300, mounten, "to get up on a horse;" mid-14c., "to rise up, rise in amount, ascend; fly," from Old French monter "to go up, ascend, climb, mount," from Vulgar Latin *montare, from Latin mons (genitive montis) "mountain" (from PIE root *men- (2) "to project"). The transitive
    climb
    Old English climban "raise oneself using hands and feet; rise gradually, ascend; make an ascent of" (past tense clamb, past participle clumben, clumbe), from West Germanic *klimban "go up by clinging" (source also of Dutch klimmen, Old High German klimban, German klimmen "to clim
    sink
    Middle English sinken, from Old English sincan (intransitive) "become submerged, go under, subside" (past tense sanc, past participle suncen), from Proto-Germanic *senkwan (source also of Old Saxon sinkan, Old Norse sökkva, Middle Dutch sinken, Dutch zinken, Old High German sinka
    struggle
    late 14c., strogelen, "wrestle, grapple, contend physically," a word of obscure origin, probably a frequentative form with -el (3) (compare trample, wrestle), but the first element is uncertain. According to OED, Skeat suggests Old Norse strugr "ill will," while others suggest a
    Mississippi
    originally the name of the river, from the French rendering of an Algonquian name (French missionaries first penetrated the river valley in its upper reaches) meaning "big river;" compare Ojibwa mshi- "big," ziibi "river." Organized as a U.S. territory 1798; admitted as a state 1
    private
    late 14c., "pertaining or belonging to oneself, not shared, peculiar to an individual only;" of a thing, "not open to the public, for the use of privileged persons;" of a religious rule, "not shared by Christians generally, distinctive;" from Latin privatus "set apart (from what
    purpose
    c. 1300, purpus, "intention, aim, goal; object to be kept in view; proper function for which something exists," from Anglo-French purpos, Old French porpos "an aim, intention" (12c.), from porposer "to put forth," from por- "forth" (from a variant of Latin pro- "forth;" see pur-)

    Share clamber

    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Trending
    Dictionary entries near clamber
    Advertisement

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

    Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.