köken: 1686; from Middle French goumon (14th c.), from Middle Breton gwemon, from Old Breton goumon, from late Proto-Brythonic *gwɨmon (“seaweed”), from Proto-Celtic *wimmonā, from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to wind, wrap around”); see also Welsh gwymon and Middle Irish femmain (modern Scottish Gaelic and Irish feamainn).
köken: First cited to a record in the Shoku Nihongi, written 715 CE. Theories include: * From Middle Chinese 昆布 (MC kwon puH, “seaweed, kelp”). * From Ainu, possibly via Ainu コムブ (kombu, “a brown seaweed, Laminaria”), which may also be borrowed from Middle Chinese 昆布 (MC kwon puH, “seaweed, kelp”). The early date of first citation, and the existence already in 715 of the kanji spelling 昆布, seems to make…
seaweed; plants that grow in freshwater · something of little worth
çekim: çoğul algae · tamlayan algae
köken: Of unknown origin, though probably a foreign substrate loanword related to ulva (“various grass-like or rush-like aquatic plants”). Note also similar dubiously-related forms in Baltic and Germanic with connotations of filth and dirtiness, including Lithuanian el̃mės, almens (“ichor, sanies”), (dialectal) Norwegian ul (“moldy”), olga (“to loathe”), elgja (“to fell like vomiting”), ulma (“to get…
Of North Germanic origin, such as Danish tang or Swedish tång, from Old Norse þongull, þang, from Proto-Germanic *þanga, from Proto-Indo-European *tenk- (“to thicken, be solid”), related to Proto-Germanic *þinhaną.