An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wamme

by Friedrich Kluge

Wamme, Wampe, feminine, ‘paunch, belly (of a skin), flank, dewlap,’ from Middle High German wamme, older wambê (wampe), feminine, ‘belly, paunch, lap,’ Old High German wamba, wampa (wamba, wumba), feminine. Corresponding to Dutch wam, ‘belly (of a fish),’ Anglo-Saxon and English womb, Old Icelandic vǫmb, Gothic wamba, feminine, ‘belly, body.’ There are no non-Teutonic cognates of the common Teutonic wambô-, ‘belly, entrails.’ —