▪ I. weem
(wiːm)
[a. early Gael. uaim (now uaimh) cavern.]
The name applied in Scotland to a cave or underground dwelling-place used by early inhabitants of the country.
| 1792 Statist. Acc. Scot. IV. 101 An artificial cave or subterraneous passage, such as is sometimes called by the country people a weem. 1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. I. iv. (1863) 107 The general name applied in Scotland to these subterranean habitations is Weems, from the Gaelic word uamha a cave. 1865 C. W. Kett in Q. Jrnl. Sci. Apr. 247 We find in Scotland underground dwelling-places formed of large unhewn stones without cement of any kind; these are called weems. 1892 D. MacRitchie Underground Life 47 It would be an easy matter for proprietors to fence in and otherwise protect existing ‘weems’. |
▪ II. weem
var. wame.