Origin and history of lame

also lamé, "silk interwoven with metallic threads," 1918, from a specialized sense of French lame, which generally meant "thin metal plate (especially in armor), gold wire; blade; wave (of the sea)," from Old French lame "thin strip, panel, blade, sheet, slice" (13c.), from Latin lamina, lamna "thin piece or flake of metal" (see laminate (v.)). The same French word was used in English earlier in armory as "a plate of metal" (1580s).

"crippled or disabled by injury to or defect of a limb or limbs," especially "walking with difficulty," Middle English, from Old English lama "crippled, lame; paralytic, weak," from Proto-Germanic *lama- "weak-limbed," literally "broken." This is reconstructed (Watkins) to be from PIE root *lem- "to break; broken," with derivatives meaning "crippled" (source also of Old Church Slavonic lomiti "to break," Lithuanian luomas "lame").

In Middle English especially "crippled in the feet," but also "crippled in the hands; disabled by disease; maimed." The figurative sense of "imperfect, halting, defective in quality or quantity" is attested from late 14c. The sense of "socially awkward" is attested from 1942.

As a noun meaning "crippled persons collectively" it is attested from late Old English. To come by the lame post (17c.-18c.) was an old colloquialism in reference to tardy mails or news out-of-date.

Germanic cognates include Old Norse lami "lame, maimed," Dutch and Old Frisian lam, German lahm "lame."

"to make lame," c. 1300, lamen, from Proto-Germanic *lamejanan (source also of Old Saxon lemon, Old Frisian lema, Dutch verlammen, German lähmen, Old Norse lemja "thrash, flog, beat; to lame, disable"), from the root of lame (adj.). Related: Lamed; laming.