colmo
Galician

Etymology
13th century. Probably from Latin culmus (“thatch”), although the open stressed vowel found in some regions and the derived term colmea (“beehive”) suggest the influence of a pre-Roman substrate of Iberia *kŏlmos; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱolh₂mos.[1] Cognate with Asturian cuelmu.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkɔlmo̝/, /ˈkolmo̝/
Noun
colmo m (plural colmos)
- thatch (usually the stalks of rye and wheat)
- 1408, José Luis Novo Cazón (ed.), El priorato santiaguista de Vilar de Donas en la Edad Media (1194-1500). A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 318:
- que façades a dicta metade da dicta casa de pedra e de madeyra e de giestas e de colmo
- you should build that half house with stone and wood and brooms and thatch
- que façades a dicta metade da dicta casa de pedra e de madeyra e de giestas e de colmo
- 1408, José Luis Novo Cazón (ed.), El priorato santiaguista de Vilar de Donas en la Edad Media (1194-1500). A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 318:
- a sheaf (of straw)
- a thatched roof
Adjective
colmo m (feminine singular colma, masculine plural colmos, feminine plural colmas)
- spiky (when referred to the hair)
- Synonyms: colmaceiro, colmeiro
References
- “colmo” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
- “colmo” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
- “colmo” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “colmo” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
- Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1991–1997). Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico. Madrid: Gredos, s.v. cuelmo.
Italian
Etymology 1
From colmare.
Etymology 2
From Latin culmen, from Proto-Italic *kolamen, from Proto-Indo-European *kelH-. Possibly influenced by cumulus or culmus phonetically. Compare Spanish colmo. Doublet of the borrowed culmine.
Derived terms
Portuguese
Etymology
From Latin culmus, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱolh₂mos.
Noun
colmo m (plural colmos)
Synonyms
- (reed): cana
Related terms
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin cumulus, following metathesis and syncopation, according to the Real Academia Española [1] and other sources [2].
Derived terms
See also
Noun
colmo m (plural colmos)
- the extreme of a situation
- Esto es el colmo. ¡Me largo! - This is too much. I'm gone!
- Ya has llegado al colmo con tu actitud. - You've already crossed the line with your attitude.
- para colmo (de males) - to cap/top it all
- Y para colmo de males, no nos han pagado en dos meses tampoco. - And to make it worse, they haven't paid us for two months either.