An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Trumm

by Friedrich Kluge

Trumm, masculine, ‘end, stomp, fragment,’ which is found besides only in the plural Trümmer, ‘fragments, ruins,’ is based on Middle High German and Old High German drum, neuter, ‘end, piece, end-piece, splinter’; compare Old Icelandic þrǫmr, ‘brim, edge, verge,’ English (Anglo-Saxon) thrum, ‘end-piece.’ Teutonic þramu- (þrumu-), from Aryan trmo-, has rightly been connected with Latin terminus, Greek τέρμα, ‘boundary, conclusion, end.’