An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Kamm

by Friedrich Kluge

Kamm, m., ‘comb,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kam (mm), kamp (b); it signifies ‘comb’ in the widest sense; OHG. chamb; comp. AS. comb, E. comb (also AS. hunigcomb, E. honeycomb?), Goth. *kambs. The term is undoubtedly OTeut.; our ancestors attached great importance to dressing their hair. The lit. meaning of the word is ‘instrument with teeth,’ for in the allied Aryan languages the meaning ‘tooth’ obtains in the cognate words. OHG. chamb is based upon pre-Teut. gombho-; comp. Gr. γομφίος, ‘molar tooth,’ γαμφηλαί, γαμφαί, ‘jaws, beak’; OInd. jambha, m., ‘tusk’ (plural ‘bit’), jambhya, m., ‘incisor,’ OSlov. ząbŭ, ‘tooth’ Gr. γόμφος, ‘plug, bolt,’ points to a wider development of meaning. —