erm

See also: ERM

English

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɜːm/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɝm/ enPR: ûrm

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m

Interjection

erm(UK or humorous)

1. Used in hesitant speech, or to express uncertainty.

   Synonyms: um, umm, em; eh, uh

   She was going to, erm... the salon, I think.

2. Used to express embarrassment or subtle disagreement.

   Erm, I don't think that was supposed to happen.

   – Bob would never say something like that!
   – Erm, he just did.

Usage notes

• Used in nonrhotic dialects. Compare um and em. Also sees ironic use in other dialects.

Translations

expression of uncertainty

• Dutch: euh (nl)
• Estonian: ää
• Finnish: öö (fi), ää (fi), umm, ööh
• French: euh (fr)
• German: äh (de)
• Icelandic: hérna (is)
• Italian: uhm
• Polish: hm (pl), hmm (pl)
• Portuguese: hm
• Russian: эээ (eee), эммм (emmm), хммм (xmmm)
• Serbo-Croatian: ovaj, umm
• Swedish: öh (sv)
• Welsh: ym

indication of secondary message

• Dutch: euh (nl)
• Finnish: öhöm, tuota (fi), tota (fi)

Anagrams

• -mer, EMR, MER, MRE, R.E.M., REM, Rem, mer, mer-, rem, π-mer

Catalan

Etymology

From Late Latin erēmus, from Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈɛrm]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈərm]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈeɾm]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

erm (feminine erma, masculine plural erms, feminine plural ermes)

1. deserted, abandoned
2. uncultivated (not cultivated by agricultural methods)

Noun

erm m (plural erms)

1. wasteland

Related terms

• eixermar

Further reading

• “erm”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “erm”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “erm” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “erm” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Old Frisian

Alternative forms

• *arm

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈerm/, [ˈærm]

Etymology 1

Ēn erm. (1.1)

From Proto-West Germanic *arm. Cognates include Old English earm and Old Saxon arm.

Noun

erm m

2. (anatomy) arm

Inflection

Declension of erm (masculine a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	erm	ermar, erma
accusative	erm	ermar, erma
genitive	ermes	erma
dative	erme	ermum, ermem

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Föhr-Amrum: iarem

  Halligen: eerm

  Heligoland: iaarem

  Mooring: ärm

  Sylt: Jerem

• Saterland Frisian: Íerm, Äirm (Strukelje)
• West Frisian: earm

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *arm. Cognates include Old English earm and Old Saxon *arm.

Adjective

erm

2. poor

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: äärm
• West Frisian: earm