# arm

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɑːm/ · frequency rank #1,887

## Definitions
1. The portion of the upper human appendage, from the shoulder to the wrist and sometimes including the hand.
2. The extended portion of the upper limb, from the shoulder to the elbow.
3. A limb, or locomotive or prehensile organ, of an invertebrate animal.
4. The part of a piece of clothing that covers the arm.
5. A long, narrow, more or less rigid part of an object extending from the main part or centre of the object, such as the armrest of an armchair, a crane, a pair of spectacles or a pair of compasses.
6. A bay or inlet off a main body of water.
7. A branch of an organization.
8. Power; might; strength; support.
9. A pitcher
10. One of the two parts of a chromosome.
11. A group of patients in a medical trial.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-
Proto-Indo-European *h₂érmos
Proto-Germanic *armaz
Proto-West Germanic *arm
Old English earm
Middle English arm
English arm
From Middle English arm, from Old English earm (Anglian arm), from Proto-West Germanic *arm, from Proto-Germanic *armaz (“arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“a fitting, joint; arm, forequarter”), a suffixed form of *h₂er- (“to join, fit together”).
Cognates
Akin to Dutch arm, German Arm, Yiddish אָרעם (orem), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish arm. Indo-European cognates include Latin armus (“the uppermost part of the arm, shoulder”), Bulgarian рамо (ramo), Polish ramię, Serbo-Croatian rȁme, Armenian արմունկ (armunk, “elbow”), Ancient Greek ἁρμός (harmós, “joint, shoulder”) and ἅρμα (hárma, “wagon, chariot”), Avestan 𐬀𐬭𐬨𐬀 (arma), Old Persian [script needed] (arma).

## Easily confused with
- **as** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-as)
- **at** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-at)
- **aw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-aw)
- **AU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-au)
- **AZ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-az)
- **av** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-av)
- **ay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-ay)
- **ax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-ax)
- **ask** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-ask)
- **art** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-art)
- **ass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-ass)
- **ate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-ate)
- **ash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-ash)
- **ave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-ave)
- **aye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-aye)
- **ATM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-atm)
- **awe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-awe)
- **axe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-axe)
- **aww** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-aww)
- **ATP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arm-vs-atp)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/arm