Discussion in 'Etymology, History of languages, and Linguistics (EHL)' started by Codinome Shlomo, Apr 6, 2014.
What is the etymology of the Yiddish word "imetim" (everywhere) <...> ?
Sorry, I don't know the etymology, but I think the word is actually umetum (אומעטום).
P.S. This article in the American Journal of Philology says that it's related to the German "um und um" (which means "around and around" or "about and about")
"Imetim" is the Polish pronunciation.
In the dialect Yiddish is derived from there is indeed a word umedum (/d/ and /t/ are merged in that dialect) which means around, it is used in expressions like umedum laafe (= umher laufen = to run around). If this is really the same word then the pronunciation u-me-tum as given here (search for אומעטום) is difficult to explain it should rather be u-me-tum or u-me-tum.
Separate names with a comma.