loam

Etymology

This word came into English through Middle English lom, lome, from Old English lām (“clay, mud, mire, earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *laim, from Proto-Germanic *laimaz, *laimô (“clay”), tracing ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”). It is a cognate of Saterland Frisian Leem (“loam”), West Frisian liem (“loam”), Dutch leem (“loam”) and German Lehm (“loam”), and is also related to lime.