An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Hammel

by Friedrich Kluge

Hammel, masculine, from the equivalent Middle High German and Middle Low German hamel, Old High German hamal, masculine, ‘wether’ (Middle High German also ‘steep, rugged height; cliff, pole’); properly an adjective used as a substantive, Old High German hamal, ‘mutilated,’ which elucidates the Middle High German meanings; Old High German hamalôn, Middle High German hameln (and hamen), ‘to mutilate,’ Anglo-Saxon hamelian, English to hamble (‘mutilate, lame’); Old High German hamalscorro, masculine, ‘boulder,’ Old High German hamal-, hamalung-stat, feminine, ‘place of execution,’ Middle High German hamelstat, neuter and masculine, ‘indented coast,’ hamelstat, feminine, ‘rugged ground.’ Allied to Old High German ham (inflected hammêr), adjective, ‘mutilated, crippled’ (compare hemmen), just as French mouton to Latin mutilus.