An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Baum

by Friedrich Kluge

Baum, masculine, ‘tree,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German boum, masculine; corresponds to Old Saxon bôm, Dutch boom, Anglo-Saxon beám, masculine, tree,’ whence English beam (beam in sunbeam is quite another word; German Baum is English tree); English boom is and Dutch bôm, ‘tree.’ The corresponding Gothic bagms and Old Icelandic baðmr have the game phonetic form. The cognates, with Greek φῦμα, ‘produce,’ are usually derived from the Teutonic root bû, Aryan bhû, ‘to become, arise,’ discussed under bauen.