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Origin and history of clamp

clamp(n.)

device for fastening or holding, c. 1300, probably from Middle Dutch clampe (Dutch klamp), from Proto-Germanic *klam-b- "clamp, cleat;" cognate with Middle Low German klampe "clasp, hook," Old High German klampfer "clip, clamp;" also probably related to Middle Dutch klamme "a clamp, hook, grapple," Danish klamme "a clamp, cramp," Old English clamm "a tie, fetter," perhaps from the same root as Latin glomus "ball-shaped mass" (see glebe).

It took the place of earlier clam "clamp, brace," from Old English clamm "bond, fetter, grip, grasp" (see clam (n.)).

clamp(v.)

"to fasten with a clamp," 1670s, from clamp (n.). Related: Clamped; clamping.

also from 1670s

Entries linking to clamp

clam(n.)

bivalve mollusk, c. 1500 (implied in clam-shell), originally Scottish, apparently a particular use of Middle English clam "pincers, vice, clamp" (late 14c.), from Old English clamm "bond, fetter, grip, grasp," from Proto-Germanic *klam- "to press or squeeze together" (source also of Old High German klamma "cramp, fetter, constriction," German Klamm "a constriction"), which is possibly from a PIE *glem- or *glom- "contain, embrace" (see glebe). If this is right then the original reference is to the shell.

Clam-chowder attested from 1822.

glebe(n.)

late 14c., "soil of the earth; cultivated land;" also "a piece of land forming part of a clergyman's benefice," from Old French glebe, from Latin gleba, glaeba "clod, lump of earth," possibly from a PIE *glem- or *glom-, which might mean "contain, embrace" or "ball," or might be two different roots. Possible cognates include Old English clamm "a tie, fetter;" Old High German klamma "trap, gorge;" Old Irish glomar "gag, curb;" Latin globus "sphere," gleba, glaeba "clod, lump of earth;" Old English clyppan "to embrace;" Lithuanian glėbys "armful," globti "to embrace, support."

clamp-down(n.)

also clampdown, 1940 in the figurative sense "a firm, oppressive or harsh suppression or preventive action," from verbal phrase clamp down "use pressure to keep down" (1924). The verbal phrase in the figurative sense is recorded from 1941. See clamp (v.) + down (adv.).

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    harpoon
    1610s, from French harpon, from Old French harpon "cramp iron, clamp, clasp" (described as a mason's tool for fastening stones...
    lid
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    Denver
    The Denver boot or shoe (1967), a wheel clamp for illegally parked vehicles, supposedly was invented 1953 by Frank Marugg...
    pizza
    The 1907 "Vocabolario Etimologico della Lingua Italiana" reports it is said to be from dialectal pinza "clamp" (from Latin...
    dog
    From late 14c. as the name for a heavy metal clamp of some kind. Dog's age "a long time" is by 1836....
    visit
    c. 1200, "come to (a person) to comfort or benefit," from Old French visiter "to visit; inspect, examine; afflict" (12c.) and directly from Latin visitare "to go to see, come to inspect," frequentative of visere "behold, visit" (a person or place), from past participle stem of vi
    inflict
    1560s, "assail, trouble;" 1590s, "lay or impose as something that must be suffered," from Latin inflictus, past participle of infligere "to strike or dash against; inflict," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + fligere (past participle flictus) "to dash, strike" (see afflict)
    cramp
    "involuntary and painful muscle contraction," late 14c., from Old French crampe (13c.), from a Frankish or other Germanic word (compare Old High German krapmhe "cramp, spasm," related to kramph "bent, crooked"), from Proto-Germanic *kramp-, forming many words for "bent, crooked,"
    impose
    late 14c., "to lay (a crime, duty, obligation, etc.) to the account of," from Old French imposer "put, place; impute, charge, accuse" (c. 1300), from assimilated form of in- "into, in" (from PIE root *en "in") + poser "put, place" (see pose (v.1)). From c. 1500 as "apply authorit
    press
    c. 1300, presse, "a crowd, throng, company; crowding and jostling of a throng; a massing together," from Old French presse (n.) "a throng, a crush, a crowd; wine or cheese press" (11c.), from Latin pressare (see press (v.1)). Late Old English had press in the sense of "clothes pr

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