The word that originally means "wholeness" is the Old English word hal (also spelled halnes or haln-es), which meant "entire, whole; unhurt, uninjured, safe; healthy, healed, sound; genuine, straightforward." This word comes from the Proto-Germanic root haila- meaning "undamaged," which in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European root kailo- meaning "whole, uninjured, of good omen"
. The noun "wholeness" itself developed in Middle English as holnesse or holhede , meaning "condition of being unbroken or undamaged" or "completeness," derived from the adjective whole plus the suffix -ness to form an abstract noun
. In Hebrew, a related concept is expressed by the root shalem , meaning complete or whole, from which words like shalom (peace, harmony, wholeness) and Jerusalem (interpreted as "they will see the wholeness") derive, emphasizing the deep connection between wholeness and completeness in various languages and cultures
. Thus, the original meaning of wholeness is deeply rooted in the idea of being entire, undamaged, and complete, both linguistically and conceptually.
