Armth

Alternative forms

• armthe, ermth, earmth

Origin

From Middle English armthe, earmthe, from Old English iermþu, iermþ ("misery, wretchedness, calamity, distress, disorder, poverty, destitution, penury, badness, disease, crime, reproach"), from Proto-Germanic *armiþō ("poverty"), from Proto-Germanic *armaz ("poor, arm"), from Proto-Indo-European *erm- ("poor, ill") or Proto-Indo-European *orbʰ- ("orphaned; orphan"), equivalent to arm("poor") + -th. Cognate with Dutch armoede ("poverty"), German Armut ("poverty"), Swedish armod ("poverty").

Full definition of armth

Noun

1. (UK dialectal or obsolete) Poverty; want; wretchedness; misery; calamity.

Related terms

• arm
• erm