loom

C1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /lum/ UK /luːm/ See IPA manual

Freq #26178

Meanings

1

verb
To appear large, close, and often threatening or worrying.

Final exams loomed over the students as the week went on.
2

verb
To come into view as a large, unclear shape, especially in the dark or fog.

A huge ship loomed out of the mist ahead of us.
3

noun
A machine used to weave thread into cloth.

The weaver worked at her loom from dawn until dusk.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms loomedloominglooms

Derived forms autoloombroadloomdrawloomhandloomheirloomhog-loomloominglyloomlessloomworksuploomwarkloomworkloom

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

power loom
a loom driven by machinery rather than entirely by hand

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English lome, from Old English *lōma, ġelōma (“tool, utensil, implement, article of furniture, household effect”) (also as andlōma, andġelōma, andlama (“utensil, instrument, implement, tool, vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *lōmō, *lamō (“tool, utensil”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Dutch alaam, allaam (“tool, household ware or good, appliance”), from Middle Dutch andlame. Perhaps originally meaning "a thing of frequent use, thing repeatedly needed", in which case, akin to Old English ġelōme (“often, frequently, continually, repeatedly”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + *lōmiz,…

lome Middle English *lōma Old English *lōmō Proto-West Germanic *lem- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# loom

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /lum/
**IPA (UK):** /luːm/
**Frequency rank:** 26178

## Meanings
1. To appear large, close, and often threatening or worrying.
2. To come into view as a large, unclear shape, especially in the dark or fog.
3. A machine used to weave thread into cloth.

## Examples
- Final exams loomed over the students as the week went on.
- A huge ship loomed out of the mist ahead of us.
- The weaver worked at her loom from dawn until dusk.

## Derived Forms
- autoloom
- broadloom
- drawloom
- handloom
- heirloom
- hog-loom
- loomingly
- loomless
- loomworks
- uploom
- warkloom
- workloom

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lome
- Root: *lōma
- Root: *lōmō
- Root: *lem-

## Etymology
From Middle English lome, from Old English *lōma, ġelōma (“tool, utensil, implement, article of furniture, household effect”) (also as andlōma, andġelōma, andlama (“utensil, instrument, implement, tool, vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *lōmō, *lamō (“tool, utensil”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Dutch alaam, allaam (“tool, household ware or good, appliance”), from Middle Dutch andlame. Perhaps originally meaning "a thing of frequent use, thing repeatedly needed", in which case, akin to Old English ġelōme (“often, frequently, continually, repeatedly”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + *lōmiz,…

## AI Etymology
Loom is from Middle English lome, from Old English *lōma, ġelōma (“tool, utensil, implement, article of furniture, household effect”) (also as andlōma, andġelōma, andlama (“utensil, instrument, implement, tool, vessel”), from Proto-West Germanic *lōmō, *lamō (“tool, utensil”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Dutch alaam, allaam (“tool, household ware or good, appliance”), from Middle Dutch andlame. Perhaps originally meaning "a thing of frequent use, thing repeatedly needed", in which case, akin to Old English ġelōme (“often, frequently, continually, repeatedly”), from Proto-Germanic *ga- + *lōmiz,… In present-day use, it can mean to appear large, close, and often threatening or worrying, or to come into view as a large, unclear shape, especially in the dark or fog.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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