Healm

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The wheel or tiller used to steer a ship ; an old term for a piece of protective headgear worn in battle
2. The steering mechanism by which a vessel is guided ; a metal covering worn on the head for protection, now mostly archaic
3. A ship's wheel or tiller for directing its course ; a historical word for the armored helmet worn to guard the head

Etymology: In Old English, "healm" meant the dried stalk of a cereal plant: the straw left after threshing, used for thatching roofs and bedding. It came from Proto-Germanic "*halmaz," which also gave German "Halm," still used for a grass or cereal stalk. The spelling "healm" was one of several Old English forms, and the sound later shifted, so it survived into Middle English as "halm" or "halme." Most modern readers meet the word only in its variant "haulm," which English dialects and agricultural writing have kept for the stalks and leaves of plants such as potatoes and peas, especially the above-ground growth cut down before harvest. The name stayed tied to plant stems rather than the grain itself. It is unrelated to "helm," the helmet or ship's steering device, which descends from a different Old English word.