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Whelm is labeled as "archaic" in NOAD, as it has fallen out of use. Left in its wake are the would-be superlative overwhelm (which, rather than actually meaning "more than whelmed", has simply taken over its parent's definition) and its opposite underwhelm .
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whelm (v.) engulf, submerge, or bury (someone or something). "a swimmer whelmed in a raging storm"
Whelm is a derived term of overwhelm. As verbs the difference between overwhelm and whelm is that overwhelm is to engulf, surge over and submerge while whelm is to cover; to submerge; to engulf; to bury.
Nov 5, 2014 · When the word “whelm” showed up sometime around 1300 (spelled quelm or welme in Middle English), it meant to overturn or capsize, but that sense is now obsolete, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
I'm not sure where you are getting this fact from, but it does not seem to be correct. "Whelm" meant/means to capsize or turn upside down. u/iyubit is correct that "over-" is merely an intensifier.
To underwhelm means, simply, to fail to impress or make a positive impact on, without any of the meanings to do with flooding or defeat. In other words, underwhelm evolved from overwhelm and not, curiously, from the rarely-used root word whelm at all. Stop making those embarrassing mistakes!
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Oct 4, 2022 · Once you know that whelm means “engulf,” it’s hard to look past the fact that overwhelm basically means “to double drown” or “to inundate and then inundate again.” Overwhelm is an example of pleonasm — a tautological phrase that includes two words that mean the same thing.
