Meaning

noun steering mechanism for a vessel; a mechanical device by which a vessel is steered

noun a position of leadership

verb be at or take the helm of

originThe noun is possibly: * a variant of haulm; or * from its etymon Middle English halm, helm, Early Middle English healm (“straw, stubble; stalk (?); handle of a tool or weapon”) [and other forms], from Old English healm (“stalk of a grass or plant; hay, straw, stubble”) or an unattested variant *helm, from Proto-Germanic *helmaz (see Proto-West Germanic *helm) or *halmaz (“stalk of a grass or…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0