An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/hemmen

by Friedrich Kluge

hemmen, verb, from the equivalent Middle High German hęmmen (Middle German), hamen, ‘to stop, hinder, check’; Old High German *hamên and *hęmmen are wanting. The early existence of the word, which is not found in Bavarian, is proved by Old Icelandic hemja, ‘to check,’ and Sanscrit çamay, ‘to annihilate,’ which is perhaps cognate with the latter. It is based upon a Teutonic root ham, meaning ‘to mutilate’; compare Old High German ham (inflected form hammêr), ‘lame, paralytic’ (Gothic *ham-ma-, from *ham-na-, originally a participle), and further also Old High German hamal, ‘mutilated’ (see Hammel). Scandinavian suggests the possibility of a different etymology— hemja, ‘to curb any one, lame, check,’ from hǫm, feminine, ‘hind-leg of a horse,’ hemill, ‘rope for tethering cattle by the thighs when they are grazing,’ hafa hemil á, ‘to restrain any one.’ In Suabian and Bavarian hemmen means only ‘to tether horses when grazing,’ Compare also Lithuanian kámanos, plural, ‘bridle.’