means A young sheep, or the gentle, mild meat it provides.

from From Old English 'lamb,' a word that has barely changed in over a thousand years, with cousins all across the Germanic family — Old High German 'lamb,' Old Norse 'lamb,' Gothic 'lamb.' The plural once kept an extra syllable ('lambru'), a trace of which survives in the old word 'lambkin.' The animal's softness made 'lamb' a term of tender endearment by the medieval period, while its sacrificial role in scripture lent it a whole second life as a symbol of innocence.