helm

CEFRC1

/hɛlm/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The position of controlling a ship, organization, or activity.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    The member of a vessel's crew in charge of steering the vessel; a helmsman or helmswoman.

Examples

  • Bad people are at the helm of the nation.

  • This helm does not have very high protection, but it does have cool stat bonuses.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The use of a helm (sense 1); also, the amount of space through which a helm is turned.

  2. The tiller (or, in a large ship, the wheel) which is used to steer the rudder of a marine vessel; also, the entire steering apparatus of a vessel.

  3. Something used to control or steer; also (obsolete), a handle of a tool or weapon; a haft, a helve.

More examples

In context

  • the helm of the Commonwealth

  • [Y]ou ſlander / The Helmes o'th State: vvho care for you like Fathers, / VVhen you curſe them, as Enemies.

  • The very ſtreame of his life, and the buſineſſe he hath helmed, muſt vppon a vvarranted neede, giue him a better proclamation.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The captain stood at the blank to steer the ship through the storm.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The noun is derived from Middle English helm, helme (“tiller of a ship”), from Old English helma (“helm, tiller”), from Proto-Germanic *helmô (“handle; helm, tiller”), either from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”) or from the same source as haulm and helm (“bentgrass, straw”) (see below), Proto-Indo-European *ḱélh₂-m(on)- (“reed, hollow stalk”), one form of which then developed a specialized meaning “handle” in Germanic. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * German Holm (“beam”) * Old Norse hjálm