helm

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The position of leadership or control of an organization.

   Since taking the helm, the new director has transformed the company.

2. 2
   noun

   The wheel or handle used to steer a ship.

   The captain gripped the helm and turned the ship into the wind.

3. 3
   verb

   To lead or manage a project or organization.

   She was chosen to helm the company's expansion into Asia.

The noun is possibly: * a variant of haulm; or * from its etymon Middle English halm, helm, Early Middle English healm (“straw, stubble; stalk (?); handle of a tool or weapon”) [and other forms], from Old English healm (“stalk of a grass or plant; hay, straw, stubble”) or an unattested variant *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (see Proto-West Germanic *helm) or *halmaz (“stalk of a grass or plant; hay, straw”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelh₂- (“to prick, stab, stick”). The verb is either derived from the noun, or is possibly a variant of yelm. Cognates Dutch helm (“haulm”); helm,…

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