dum

See also: dúm, dùm, düm, dům, đùm, -dum, and d'um

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Dutch, middle.

Symbol

dum

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Middle Dutch.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Middle Dutch terms

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʌm/
• Homophone: dumb
• Rhymes: -ʌm

Etymology 1

From Hindi दम (dam).

Adjective

dum (not comparable)

1. (India, cooking) cooked with steam

Related terms

• dumpoke

Etymology 2

Interjection

dum

1. Syllable used when humming a tune.
   • 2012, Graeme Burk, Robert Smith, Who is the Doctor:

     I like to hang out with friends and travel the world. But if there's one thing I really love, it's Doctor Who. Dum de dum, dum de dum, dum de dum. Whooo-eee-oooo dum de dum, de dum de dum.

Etymology 3

Adjective

dum

1. (nonstandard, humorous) Alternative spelling of dumb.

Etymology 4

Adjective

dum (not comparable)

1. Pronunciation spelling of damn.

See also

etymologically unrelated terms

• ba-dum ching
• ba dum tish
• ba dum tss
• dum-dum
• dum dum
• dum dum bullet
• dum palm
• Tweedle-dum

Anagrams

• DMU, MUD, UMD, mud

Balinese

Etymology

From Old Javanese dum.

Verb

dum (Balinese script ᬤᬸᬫ᭄)

1. to divide

Further reading

• “dum” in Balinese–Indonesian Dictionary [Kamus Bahasa Bali–Indonesia], Denpasar, Indonesia: The Linguistic Center of Bali Province [Balai Bahasa Provinsi Bali].

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse dumbr (“dumb”), and in the main sense stupid from German dumm. Both from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-. Compare Norwegian and Swedish dum, Icelandic dumbur, English dumb, Low German dumm, Dutch dom, German dumm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dom/, [d̥ɔmˀ]
• Rhymes: -ɔm

Adjective

dum

1. stupid, dense, dumb, thick, dim
2. foolish, silly, daft

Inflection

Inflection of dum

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	dum	dummere	dummest2
indefinite neuter singular	dumt	dummere	dummest2
plural	dumme	dummere	dummest2
definite attributive1	dumme	dummere	dummeste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Esperanto

Etymology

From Latin dum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -um
• Hyphenation: dum

Preposition

dum

1. for

   Mi estos en Usono dum du jaroj. ― I will be in the USA for two years.

2. during
3. while
4. whereas

Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto dum, from Latin dum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dum/

Preposition

dum

1. during, in (a period of time)

   Il esis absenta dum tri yari. ― He was absent for three years.

Derived terms

• dume (“meanwhile, meantime”)

Javanese

Etymology

From Old Javanese dum.

Verb

dum

1. to divide

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *dūm (adverb), from *dweh₂- (“long”) +‎ *-m (adverbial suffix). Compare dūdum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈd̪um]

Conjunction

dum

1. (indicating coincidence of duration): (with indicative) while, whilst, as, meanwhile (as), (for) as long as, until

   Synonyms: interea, interim, quamdiū

   Dum vīxī tacuī, mortua dulcē canō. ― While I lived I was quiet; dead I sweetly sing.

   dum erunt hominēs ― as long as there are humans (as long as humankind exists)

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics III.284–285:

     fugit inreparabile tempus
     singula dum capti circumvectamur amore

     Irretrievable time flies away while, in thrall to love, we are carried about from one thing to another.

   • 16 BCE, Ovid, The Loves 1.11.15:

     Dum loquor, hōra fugit.

     While I speak, the hour flees away.

2. (indicating coincidence of duration): (before a verbal substantive) during

   Synonym: quamdiū

3. (indicating duration with expectancy): (with subjunctive) until, long enough for
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.325–326:

     “Quid moror? An mea Pygmaliōn dum moenia frāter
     dēstruat, aut captam dūcat Gaetūlus Iarbās?”

     “What am I waiting for? Until my brother Pygmalion busts down these walls? Or the Gaetulian, Iarbas, drags me away, enslaved?”

4. (indicating duration with contingency): (with subjunctive) as long as, (for) so long as, provided (that), on the condition that

   Synonym: dummodo

   Oderint, dum metuant. ― Let them hate, so long as they fear.

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Tobit.2.4:

     tollensque illud portavit ad domum suam occulte ut dum sol occubuisset caute sepeliret eum

     And taking it up carried it privately to his house, that after the sun was down, he might bury him cautiously.

Usage notes

Dum offers speakers of Latin the capacity to express duration with coincidence, expectancy, or contingency. Classical authors most often used dum in order to express coincidental duration, and so it was most often accompanied by verbs in the indicative mood; the adverb dummodo was generally used to express aspects of contingency.

Derived terms

• dum interim
• dummodo
• interdum

Adverb

dum

1. (Old Latin) for a while, still

Derived terms

• agedum
• dūdum
• interdum
• mānedum
• nōndum

Descendants

• Asturian: dun (1861 translation of the Gospel of Matthew), demientres
• → Esperanto: dum

Further reading

• “dum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “dum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• dum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I cannot wait till..: nihil mihi longius est or videtur quam dum or quam ut
    
  • as long as one's strength holds out: dum vires suppetunt
    
  • as long as I live: dum vita suppetit; dum (quoad) vivo
    
• dum in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[3], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Maia

Adjective

dum

1. wet

Middle English

Adjective

dum

1. alternative form of dumb

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse dumbr, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-. Cognate with English dumb, Danish dum and Swedish dum, Icelandic dumbur, Dutch dom, German dumm.

Adjective

dum (neuter singular dumt, definite singular and plural dumme, comparative dummere, indefinite superlative dummest, definite superlative dummeste)

1. foolish
2. stupid, silly

Derived terms

• dumhet

References

• “dum” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse dumbr, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dumː/

Adjective

dum (neuter singular dumt, definite singular and plural dumme, comparative dummare, indefinite superlative dummast, definite superlative dummaste)

1. foolish
2. stupid, silly

References

• “dum” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Alternative forms

• dun

Etymology

From Old Norse dúnn (“down, feathers”), from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz. Cognate with English down, German Daun.

Noun

dum m

1. down, feathers of small birds used as insulation material in duvets and sleeping bags

Descendants

• Middle French: dun
• Norman: dùn
• ⇒ Old French: dumet, dumect
  • Norman: dumet, deumet
  • ⇒ Old French: duvet
    • Middle French: duvet
      • French: duvet
        • → English: duvet
    • Norman: duvet

Old Irish

Noun

dum

1. alternative form of daum

Mutation

Mutation of dum

radical	lenition	nasalization
dum	dum pronounced with /ð(ʲ)-/	ndum

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Javanese

Etymology

Unknown, probably from Proto-Mon-Khmer *t₁um (“collection, accumulation”) (compare to Khmer ដុំ (dom, “loaf; piece, block, chunk, part; pile, cluster, bunch”), Eastern Cham ḍaum (“group”)). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʊm/

Noun

dum

1. part

Alternative forms

• dūm

Derived terms

• adum para
• adum-dum
• adum-duman
• adūm
• aṅadum-parani
• aṅdum
• aṅdūmakĕn
• aṅdūmi
• dinum
• dinum-duman
• dinūmakĕn
• dinūman
• dum-duman
• dūman
• kaduman
• padūm
• paṅdum

Descendants

• Javanese: ꦢꦸꦩ꧀ (dum)
• → Balinese: ᬤᬸᬫ᭄ (dum)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdum/
• Rhymes: -um
• Syllabification: dum

Noun

dum f

1. genitive plural of duma

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• d'um (dated)

Etymology

From earlier d'um, from de (“of”) + um (“a”, masculine singular indefinite article).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈd‿ũ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈd‿ũ/

• Hyphenation: dum

Contraction

dum (feminine duma, masculine plural duns, feminine plural dumas)

1. contraction of de um (“of/from a (masculine)”)

Usage notes

• The contraction of de + um / uma is never obligatory and sometimes associated with spoken language. In a few cases it is not possible:

1. When de is part of a preposition, as in em vez de:

   Em vez de um escalão ter três anos, ...

2. When um is a numeral:

   Trata-se de um ou dois dias.

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian dumb, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz. More at dumb.

Adjective

dum

1. stupid; dumb

   Synonym: hoolich

2. blindly
3. dizzy

Derived terms

• Dumstolt

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “dum”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish dumber, from Old Norse dumbr, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-. Compare Norwegian dumb, Danish dum, Icelandic dumbur, English dumb, Dutch dom and German dumm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɵmː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

dum (comparative dummare, superlative dummast)

1. stupid, dumb

   Du är inte så dum som du ser ut

   You're not as stupid as you look

2. causing trouble or annoyance

   Dumt att den inte levereras förrän imorgon. Det kommer ställa till med problem.

   It's a shame that it won't be delivered until tomorrow. It's going to cause trouble.

   En kopp kaffe vore inte dumt

   A cup of coffee would be nice (wouldn't be bad)

3. (often childish) mean, cruel, misbehaving, naughty

   Han var dum mot mig!

   He was mean to me!

   Mamma sa till Olle att sluta vara dum

   Mom told Olle to stop being naughty

   Jag borde inte sagt elaka saker till honom. Det var dumt gjort.

   I shouldn't have said mean things to him. It was a stupid thing to do. (not childish – leans more towards morally bad, like in English)

Declension

Inflection of dum

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	dum	dummare	dummast
neuter singular	dumt	dummare	dummast
plural	dumma	dummare	dummast
masculine plural2	dumme	dummare	dummast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	dumme	dummare	dummaste
all	dumma	dummare	dummaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

• dum i huvudet
• dum i skallen
• dumbom
• dumdristig
• dumdryg
• dumhet
• dumhuvud
• dumskalle
• är huvudet dumt får kroppen lida

References

• dum in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• dum in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Talysh

Etymology

Cognate with Persian دم (dom).

Noun

dum

1. tail

Tarifit

Etymology

Borrowed from Moroccan Arabic دام (dām).

Verb

dum (Tifinagh spelling ⴷⵓⵎ)

1. (intransitive) to last, to subsist, to perpetuate

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• ddwam (“duration, continuity”)
• ddaym (“eternal”)
• dima (“always”)

Tregami

Etymology

From Proto-Nuristani *dūma, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dʰuHmás, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdum/

Noun

dum (Gambir)

1. smoke

References

• Jakob Halfmann (2022) Advances in the historical phonology of the Nuristani languages, in 'International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction 19, page 127

Uzbek

Other scripts

Yangi Imlo
Cyrillic	дум‍
Latin	dum‍
Perso-Arabic (Afghanistan)

Etymology

From Persian دم (dom).

Noun

dum (plural dumlar)

1. tail