Meaning

noun the edge of a piece of cloth; especially the finished edge that has been doubled under and stitched down

noun the utterance of a sound similar to clearing the throat; intended to get attention, express hesitancy, fill a pause, hide embarrassment, warn a friend, etc.

verb fold over and sew together to provide with a hem

originFrom Middle English hem, hemm, in turn from Old English hem, of West Germanic origin, from Proto-West Germanic *hammjan from Proto-Germanic *hamjaną. Related to Middle High German hemmen (“to hem in”), Old Norse hemja (“to hem in, restrain”); outside of Germanic, to Armenian քամել (kʻamel, “to press, wring”), Russian ком (kom, “lump”). The verb is from Middle English hemmen, from Old English…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0