dam

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: Dam, dám, dâm, dăm, da̰m, and Appendix:Variations of "dam"

Contents

Translingual[edit]

Wikipedia-logo.png
 dam (disambiguation) on Wikipedia

Symbol[edit]

dam

  1. (metrology) Symbol for the decameter (decametre), an SI unit of length equal to 101 meters (metres).

English[edit]

Wikipedia-logo.png
 dam (disambiguation) on Wikipedia
A dam

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English dam, damme, from Old English *dam, *damm (inferred from derivative fordemman (“to hem in”)), from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun[edit]

dam (plural dams)

  1. A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting
    some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding
    A dam is often an essential source of water to farmers of hilly country.
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎[1]:
      Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins … .
    • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:
      Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.
  2. The water reservoir resulting from placing such structure
    Boats may only be used at places set aside for boating on the dam
  3. (dentistry) A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.
  4. (South Africa, Australia) A reservoir.
  5. A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.
  6. (India) An obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee.
    • 1839, William Holloway, A General Dictionary of Provincialisms, Written with a View to Rescue from Oblivion the Fast Fading Relics of By-gone Days, Lewes, East Sussex: Sussex Press: Printed and published by Baxter and Son, OCLC 3138091, page 42:
      […] A small Indian coin; whence comes the saying "I don't care a dam for you," that is I don't value you a farthing, and not as generally given, "I don't care a damn" or a "curse for you." [Possibly a folk etymology.]
Translations[edit]
structure placed across a flowing body of water

Verb[edit]

dam (third-person singular simple present dams, present participle damming, simple past and past participle dammed)

  1. To block the flow of water.
Translations[edit]
See also[edit]

References[edit]


Etymology 2[edit]

Variant of dame.

Noun[edit]

dam (plural dams)

  1. Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals (correlative to sire).
    • Shakespeare
      The dam runs lowing up and down, / Looking the way her harmless young one went.
    • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: […] Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
      , II.12:
      Hunters assure us, that to chuse the best dog, and which they purpose to keepe from out a litter of other young whelps, there is no better meane than the damme herselfe […].
    • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I:
      she / Resolved that Juan should be quite a paragon, / And worthy of the noblest pedigree / (His sire was from Castile, his dam from Aragon) […].
    • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, 1992, p.112:
      The sky was cloudless—the moon rolled across the surface like a lamb searching for its dam.
  2. A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

dam (plural dams)

  1. A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Afrikaans[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch dam, from Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun[edit]

dam (plural damme)

  1. pond, basin
  2. dam

Derived terms[edit]

Cebuano[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English dam, from Middle English dam, damme, from Old English *dam, *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun[edit]

dam

  1. a dam; a structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow
  2. a reservoir

Crimean Tatar[edit]

Noun[edit]

dam

  1. stable
  2. roof
  3. taste

Declension[edit]

Declension of dam
nominative dam
genitive damnıñ
dative damğa
accusative damnı
locative damda
ablative damdan

Synonyms[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse dammr (“dam”).

Noun[edit]

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite damme)

  1. pond
Inflection[edit]
Declension of dam
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative dam dammen damme dammene
genitive dams dammens dammes dammenes
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from French jeu de dames (“draughts”).

Noun[edit]

dam c, n

  1. draughts, checkers

Etymology 3[edit]

Borrowed from French dame (“lady”).

Noun[edit]

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite dammer)

  1. king (superior piece in draughts)
Inflection[edit]
Declension of dam
common
gender 		Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative dam dammen dammer dammerne
genitive dams dammens dammers dammernes

Dutch[edit]

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun[edit]

dam m (plural dammen, diminutive dammetje n)

  1. dam
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from French dame.

Noun[edit]

dam f (plural dammen)

  1. (checkers) king (double draught/checker)

Etymology 3[edit]

See etymology on the main entry.

Verb[edit]

dam

  1. first-person singular present indicative of dammen
  2. imperative of dammen

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin damnum.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

dam m (plural dams)

  1. (obsolete except in phrases) damage
  2. (religion) damnation

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Friulian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin damnum.

Noun[edit]

dam m (plural dams)

  1. damage

Synonyms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Irish[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

dam (emphatic damsa)

  1. Alternative form of dom (“for/to me”)

Maltese[edit]

Verb[edit]

dam

  1. dally, stall

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

Noun[edit]

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammer, definite plural dammene)

  1. a pond
  2. a dam (structure)
  3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

Noun[edit]

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammar, definite plural dammane)

  1. a pond
  2. a dam (structure)
  3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

References[edit]

Old Irish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Proto-Celtic *damos (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂-

Noun[edit]

dam m (genitive daim)

  1. ox
  2. stag
  3. (by extension) hero, champion
Declension[edit]
Masculine o-stem
Singular Dual Plural
Nominative dam damL daimL
Vocative daim damL daumu
Accusative damN damL daumu
Genitive daimL dam damN
Dative daumL damaib damaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective:
  • H = triggers aspiration
  • L = triggers lenition
  • N = triggers nasalization
  • Alternative forms:
    genitive singular, nominative plural: doim
    dative singular: dum, dam
    accusative plural: dumu, damu
Descendants[edit]

Noun[edit]

dam f

  1. hind, cow (old feminine form of previous)

Etymology 2[edit]

Inflected forms of daimid.

Verb[edit]

dam

  1. first-person singular present subjunctive conjunct of daimid
  2. Alternative form of daim

·dam

  1. Alternative form of ·daim

Mutation[edit]

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
dam dam
pronounced with /ð(ʲ)-/ 		ndam
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References[edit]

  • “1 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • “2 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

dam

  1. first-person singular present of dać

Noun[edit]

dam

  1. genitive plural of dama

Rohingya[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Bengali [Term?].

Noun[edit]

dam

  1. price

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

dam c

  1. a lady, a woman
  2. (card games) a queen
    Ruter dam
    Queen of diamonds
  3. (chess) a queen

Declension[edit]

Declension of dam 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative dam damen damer damerna
Genitive dams damens damers damernas

Synonyms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Terms related to dam

See also[edit]

Chess pieces in Swedish · schackpjäser (schack + pjäser) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
kung drottning, dam torn löpare springare, häst bonde

References[edit]

Turkish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Turkic [script needed] (tam), from Proto-Turkic *Tām (“roof; wall; hut”), which, according to the controversial Altaic hypothesis, is possibly derived from Proto-Altaic *t`āma (“wall, roof”).

Compare Uyghur تام‎ (tam, “wall”), Korean 담 (dam, “wall”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

  1. roof

References[edit]

Uzbek[edit]

Noun[edit]

dam (plural damlar)

  1. bellows
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