um

See also: Appendix:Variations of "um"

Languages (31)

Translingual • English

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Czech • Dutch • East Makian • Elfdalian • Faroese • Galician • German • Hawaiian Creole • Hunsrik • Icelandic • Indo-Portuguese • Irish • Khasi • Ladino • Livonian • Lote • Luxembourgish • Mòcheno • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Norse • Pennsylvania German • Pnar • Polish • Portuguese • Romansch • Sawai • Scots • Serbo-Croatian • Slovak

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

u- (“micro-, 10^-6”) + m (“metre”).

Symbol

um

1. (international standards) Alternative form of µm

English

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌm (when stressed, or as a verb)

Used in rhotic dialects. Compare to British English erm.

Interjection

um

1. Expression of hesitation, uncertainty or space filler in conversation.

   Synonyms: er, hmm, uh, eh

   Um, I don’t know.

   Let’s see... um... how about this?

   • 2002, “Newsweek”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 140, page lxxx:

     It's a great test of the claims of open-source gurus, who say that a self-motivated community can outcode any team working for a single employer—like, um, Microsoft.

   • 2007 August 24, William Grimes, “Uh, Lead My Rips: No More Bloopers”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 2013-01-04:

     As the years go by, speech reverts to childhood levels of disfluency, with more pauses, more errors, more repeated words, but even the peak years are not great: up to 8 percent of the average person’s word output consists of meaningless fillers and placeholders like um, uh and er.

   • 2024 June 24, “Baldwin Judge on FIRE!”, in Law of Self Defense‎^[2], page 2:

     Um And I don't know um what to say to the court other than, I don't know how we could get through 1/5 of that.

2. (chiefly US) Dated spelling of mmm.
   • 1963, Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle, Dell Publishing Co., Inc., page 65:

     "About the same, wherever you go," he agreed.
     "Um," I said.

3. An expression to forcefully call attention to something wrong.

   Um, excuse me!

4. (childish) An expression of shocked disapproval used by a child who witnesses forbidden behavior.
   • 2011, Kimberly Willis Holt, Piper Reed: Clubhouse Queen, page 83:

     While I was in her room, Sam walked by and said, “Um, I'm telling!”
     “You're telling what?” I asked.
     “You're reading Tori's journal,” she said.

   • 2021, Sarah Strangeways, The Gingerbread House, page 13:

     Mair used to look after Laura. If anyone threatened to tease her, Mair would stand up straight, point her finger at the enemy and shout, 'Um! I'm telling on you!'

Verb

um (third-person singular simple present ums, present participle umming, simple past and past participle ummed)

1. (intransitive) To make the um sound to express uncertainty or hesitancy.
   • 2007, Michael Erard, Um... Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, page 136:

     Meanwhile, in the popular mind umming was simply a bad habit, akin to spitting or picking one’s nose.

Noun

um (plural ums)

1. An occurrence of the interjection "um".
   • 2007 August 24, William Grimes, “Uh, Lead My Rips: No More Bloopers”, in The New York Times‎^[3], archived from the original on 2013-01-04:

     Although Shakespeare refers to “hums and ha’s,” sifting through etiquette manuals and public-speaking guides turns up scant evidence of a prohibition against ums, ers and uhs, which are profuse in the first recording of Thomas Edison’s voice, in 1888. Mr. Erard, rather ingeniously, traces the prohibition on um and other speech flaws to the advent of radio in the early 1920s.

Alternative forms

• ahm, ehm, em, erm, hum, uhm, umm

Etymology 2

Variant form of -um.

Particle

um

1. (dated, sometimes humorous, often offensive) An undifferentiated determiner or article; a miscellaneous linking word, or filler with nonspecific meaning; representation of broken English stereotypically or comically attributed to Native Americans.

   Me be Injun. Him um Growling Bear. Him um heap big chief.

   • 1871, “Grand camp meeting on Bear River”, in The Keepapitchinin‎^[4], volume III, page 3:

     “me heap brave—me talk to um white man so […] me good injun, like um white man, mebbe so, ugh!”

See also

• um-hum

Anagrams

• -mu-, MU, Mu, mu

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *umъ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈum]
• Hyphenation: um
• Rhymes: -um

Noun

um m inan

1. skill, art

Declension

Declension of um (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	um	umy
genitive	umu	umů
dative	umu	umům
accusative	um	umy
vocative	ume	umy
locative	umě, umu	umech
instrumental	umem	umy

See also

• schopnost
• dovednost
• umění

Further reading

• “um”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “um”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “um”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Dutch

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

um

1. um (expressing hesitation)

   Synonyms: ehm, eh, uh

East Makian

Noun

um

1. house

References

• C. L. Voorhoeve, The Makian Languages and Their Neighbours (1982)

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse um, from Proto-Germanic *umbi. Cognate with Swedish om.

Conjunction

um

1. if

Preposition

um

1. around
2. about (a subject)

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse umb, from Proto-Germanic *umbi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“round about, around”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊmː/

Preposition

um

1. around [with accusative]
2. about [with accusative]
3. during [with accusative]
4. through [with accusative]
5. over [with accusative]

Conjunction

um

1. whether, if

Galician

Galician numbers ^(edit)

		10
	[a], [b] ←  0	1	2  → [a], [b], [c]	10  →
Cardinal (reintegrationist / masculine): um     Cardinal (standard / masculine): un     Cardinal (standard / feminine): unha     Cardinal (reintegrationist / feminine): umha, uma     Ordinal: primeiro     Ordinal abbreviation: 1º
Galician Wikipedia article on 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈuŋ/ [ˈuŋ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uŋ
• Hyphenation: um

Numeral

um m (feminine umha or uma, reintegrationist norm)

1. one

Usage notes

The numeral um and its feminine forms umha and uma can form contractions with the prepositions com (“with”), de (“of, from”), and em (“in”).

Derived terms

• cum, cumha, cuma
• dum, dumha, duma
• num, numha, numa

References

• “um” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).

German

Alternative forms

• umb, ümb, üm (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German umbe, ümbe, from Old High German umbi, from Proto-West Germanic *umbi.

Central German dialects show regular umlaut; the standard form is from Upper German, where umlaut of -u- was blocked before labial geminates and clusters. Cognate with Luxembourgish ëm, Dutch om.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊm

Preposition

um [with accusative]

1. about

   Es geht um den Kuchen. ― It's about the pie.

2. around

   Um die Ecke ― around the corner

3. at, by (when relating to time)

   Um acht Uhr reisen wir ab ― At eight o’clock we depart

4. by (percentage difference)

   Die Verkaufsmengen gingen um 6% zurück. ― Sales in volume has decreased by 6%.

5. (Austria) for (amount of money)

   Um einen Euro bekommt man heute nicht besonders viel. ― You can't buy much for one euro these days.

   Heute im Sonderangebot um nur 99 Euro. ― Special offer today for only 99 euros.

Inflection

Pronominal adverbs of um

Preposition	um
+ wo-	worum
+ da-	darum
+ hier-	hierum

Derived terms

• (um + das) ums

Conjunction

um (introduces a zu-clause)

1. in order to, so as to

   Wir sind gekommen, um zu helfen.

   We’ve come (in order) to help.

Adjective

um (indeclinable, predicative only)

1. (predicative, not attributive) up, in the sense of finished

   Werden dich in kurzem binden/ Erdgeist, deine Zeit ist um

   We will shortly bind you/ Erdgeist, your time is up

   (Friedrich von Hardenberg, Novalis)

Adverb

um

1. around, about
2. turned over, changed, from one state to another

Derived terms

• um deinetwillen
• um euretwillen
• um ihretwillen
• um Ihretwillen
• um meinetwillen
• um seinetwillen

Hawaiian Creole

Etymology

Derived from English ’em.

Pronoun

um

1. them (those ones)
   • 2000, “Matthew 8”, in Joseph Grimes, transl., Da Jesus Book: Hawaii Pidgin New Testament‎^[5], Wycliffe Bible Translators, →ISBN, page 110:

     He tell um, “Go.” So dey wen let go da guys, an go take ova da pigs. An you know wat? All da pigs wen run down one steep hill an fall ova da cliff inside da lake, an drown inside da water.

     And he said unto them, Go. And they came out, and went into the swine: and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep into the sea, and perished in the waters.

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /um/

Preposition

um (+ accusative)

1. around

   Ich hon mich en Duch um de Kopp gebunn.

   I've tied a towel around my head.

2. at, by (when relating to time)

   Um acht Uher.

   At eight o'clock.

Derived terms

• (um + das) ums

Adverb

um

1. around, about

   Das kost um zweu hunnerd Rëal.

   This costs around two hundred reais.

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Icelandic

Alternative forms

• umb

Etymology

Inherited from Old Norse um, inherited from Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around, about”).

Adverb

um

1. used in set phrases

   Það er um að gera að sofa vel.

   The important thing to do is to sleep well.

   Hvað er um að vera?

   What's going on?

   Eins og um var talað.

   As was agreed.

Derived terms

• um að gera
• vera um og ó

Preposition

um [with accusative]

1. about, concerning

   Um hvað ertu að tala?

   What are you talking about?

   Spurning um líf og dauða.

   A question of life and death.

2. through, around, across

   Áin rennur um dalinn.

   The river runs through the valley.

   Að fara út um gluggann.

   To go out through the window.

   Vestur um haf.

   West across the sea.

3. throughout, over, around

   Við förum um alla sveitina.

   We'll go throughout the district.

   Hann var breiður um herðar.

   He was broad across the shoulders.

   Hún hafði klút um hálsinn.

   She had a scarf around her neck.

4. during, for, in, at

   Hvenær gerðist þetta? - Þetta gerðist um sumarið.

   When did this happen? - It happened during the summer.

   Ég fór um nóttina.

   I went during the night.

5. approximately, about, around

   Pokinn er um fjögur kíló.

   The bag is around four kilos.

Usage notes

• Often used with phrases such as "brjóta heilann um".

  Ég er búinn að brjóta heilann um þetta alla nótt!

  I've been racking my brain about this all night!

Derived terms

• búa um rúmið
• deila um keisarans skegg
• eins og um var talað
• ganga um gólf (“to walk up and down the floor, to pace the floor”)
• hér um bil (“approximately”)
• hver um sig (“each one of them, each in turn, each one on his/her own”)
• hælast um af
• klukkan ~ um morguninn (“at ~ in the morning”)
• láta e-h um það (“to leave it to s-b”)
• láta sem vind um eyru þjóta, láta eins og vind um eyru þjóta
• líta um öxl
• togast á um
• um daginn (“the other day”)
• um leið (“straight away”)
• um leið og (“as soon as, at the same time as”)
• um morguninn (“in the morning, in the course of the morning”)
• um nóttina (“during the night”)
• um of (“too much”)
• um tíma, um stundarsakir (“for a while”)
• um það bil
• um það leyti (“at about that time”)
• vefja um fingur sér
• vera um megn
• víða um land (“all over the country”)

Indo-Portuguese

Etymology

From Portuguese um (“a”), from Old Galician-Portuguese ũu, from Latin ūnus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos.

Article

um

1. a (the indefinite article)
   • 1883, Hugo Schuchardt, Kreolische Studien, volume 3:

     Um homm tinh doiz filh:

     A man had two sons:

Irish

Alternative forms

• im

Etymology

From Old Irish imb, from Proto-Celtic *ambi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“round about, around”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊmˠ/

Preposition

um (plus dative, triggers lenition, except of b, m, and p)

1. about
2. at
3. because of, on account of

Inflection

Inflection of um

	Person:		simple	emphatic
singular	first		umam	umamsa
	second		umat	umatsa
	third	m	uime	uimesean
		f	uimpi	uimpise
plural	first		umainn	umainne
	second		umaibh	umaibhse
	third		umpu	umpusan

Derived terms

• uime

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “um”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Khasi

Etymology

Probably cognate to U ʔóm.

Noun

um

1. water

References

• H. Roberts, A Grammar of the Khasi Language

Ladino

Interjection

um

1. (onomatopoeia) mmm (emotional expression of deliciousness)
   • 2006, Matilda Koén-Sarano, Por el plazer de kontar‎^[6], Nur Afakot, page 145:

     Le demandí kon la bava a la boka: "Um!… I de kualo es?"
     "De pera", me disho Viktoria.
     Yo al gostí… Estava maraviyoza.

     I asked her mouthwateringly: ‘Mmm…! What is this?’
     ‘Pear’, Viktoria told me. To me, the taste was… wonderful.

Further reading

• “um”, in Trezoro de la Lengua Djudeoespanyola [Treasure of the Judeo-Spanish Language] (in Ladino, Hebrew, and English), Instituto Maale Adumim

Livonian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /um/

Verb

u'm

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of vȱlda

Lote

Noun

um

1. stone

References

• Greg Pearson, René van den Berg, Lote Grammar Sketch (2008)

Luxembourgish

Contraction

um

1. contraction of op + dem; on the, at the, to the
2. contraction of un + dem

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German umbe, ümbe, from Old High German umbi, from Proto-West Germanic *umbi, from Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around, about”). Cognate with German um.

Preposition

um (+ accusative)

1. about, around
2. (time) at

   Um biavle ist s? ― What time is it? (literally, “How many is it at?”)

References

• “um” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse um.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊmː/, [ʊmː], [umː], [ʊ̟mː], [ʉmː]

Preposition

um

1. (pre-1938 or dialectal) alternative form of om

References

• “um” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• umb — older form

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around, about”). Cognate with Old English ymbe, Old Frisian umbe, ombe, Old Saxon umbi, Old High German umbi.

Preposition

um

1. about, concerning [with accusative]
2. round, past, beyond [with accusative]
3. over, across, along [with accusative]
4. during, at a point in time [with accusative]
5. because of, for [with accusative]

Particle

um

1. (Poetic Edda) indicates that the verbal action is completed, compare English “through” as in “read through”. For semantic development, compare adjectival usage of German um.
   • Vǫluspá, verse 2, lines 1-2, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 1:

     Ek man jǫtna / ár um borna, […]

     I remember giants / born long ago, […]

Descendants

• Icelandic: um
• Faroese: um
• Norwegian Nynorsk: um; (dialectal) om, øm
• Old Swedish: um
  • Swedish: om
• Danish: om
  • Norwegian Bokmål: om
    • → Norwegian Nynorsk: om

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “um”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive
• J. Fritzner (1867) “um”, in Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog (in Danish), Kristiania: Feilberg & Landmark

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German um, Dutch om, Old English ymb.

Preposition

um

1. around

Pnar

Etymology

From Proto-Khasian *ʔum (“tree”). Cognate with Khasi um.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔum/

Noun

um

1. water

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ũmъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈum/
• Rhymes: -um
• Syllabification: um
• Homophone: -um

Noun

um m inan

1. (obsolete) mind, reason

   Synonyms: rozsądek, rozum, umysł

Declension

Declension of um

	singular	plural
nominative	um	umy
genitive	umu	umów
dative	umowi	umom
accusative	um	umy
instrumental	umem	umami
locative	umie	umach
vocative	umie	umy

Derived terms

adjectives

• umny
• umowy

noun

• umność

Related terms

adjectives

• rozumny
• umysłowy

nouns

• umiejętność
• umysłowość

verbs

• rozumieć impf
• umieć impf

Further reading

• um in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Portuguese numbers ^(edit)

		10
	←  0	1	2  →	10  →
Cardinal: um     Ordinal: primeiro     Ordinal abbreviation: 1.º, 1º     Multiplier: único, singular     Fractional: inteiro
Portuguese Wikipedia article on 1

Alternative forms

• hum (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese ũu (“one; a”), from Latin ūnum (“one”), from Old Latin oinos, from Proto-Italic *oinos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos (“one”). Doublet of uno.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): (numeral) /ˈũ/, (article) /ũ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): (numeral) /ˈũ/, (article) /ũ/

• (São Miguel, Azores) IPA^(key): (numeral) /ˈœ̃/, (article) /œ̃/

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ũ
• Hyphenation: um

Numeral

um m (feminine uma)

2. one

   Uma xícara de café ― One cup of coffee

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:um.

Related terms

• adunar
• anular
• aunar
• coadunar
• não
• nulo
• unânime
• unanimidade
• uni-
• união
• único
• unidade
• unir

Descendants

• Indo-Portuguese: um
• Kabuverdianu: un

Article

um (feminine uma, masculine plural uns, feminine plural umas)

2. (indefinite) a, an

   Um carro, uma casa. ― A car, a house.

   • 2005, J. K. Rowling, translated by Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince] (Harry Potter; 6), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 186:

     Tenho um recado para você.

     I have a message for you.

   • 2005, J. K. Rowling, translated by Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince] (Harry Potter; 6), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 361:

     […] disse o professor com um sorrisinho […]

     […] the teacher said with a little smile […]

   2. (in the plural) some; a few (a small number of)

      Uns carros, umas casas. ― A few cars, a few houses.

      Synonym: alguns

   4. (with uncountable nouns) a bit of

      Synonym: um pouco de

   6. (usually in the feminine, pronounced slowly, emphatically and with a high intonation) indicates that what follows is exceptional; quite a; quite the

      Ontem de noite caiu uma chuva.

      We had quite a rain last night.

      Estamos comendo um churrasco.

      We are having the barbecue.

      Synonym: aquele

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:um.

See also

Portuguese articles

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
definite article (the)	o	a	os	as
indefinite article (a, an; some)	um	uma	uns	umas

Noun

um m (plural uns)

2. the figure or digit "1": one

   O um parece o sete sem gravata no pescoço. ― The one looks like the seven with no tie at its neck.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:um.

Pronoun

um m or f (plural uns)

2. a person; one; someone

   Chegou-me um e disse: "Olá!" ― One came to me and said: "Hello!"

4. element(s) of a previously mentioned class: one; some (in the plural)

   Comprei uns e me decepcionei. ― I bought some and got disappointed.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:um.

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin homō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ (“earthling”).

Noun

um m (plural umens)

1. man

   Coordinate term: dunna

2. husband

   Synonym: (Sutsilvan) cunsort

   Coordinate term: dunna

Sawai

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /um/

Noun

um

1. house

Further reading

• Donald A. Burquest, Wyn D. Laidig, Phonological Studies in Four Languages of Maluku (1992)

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌm/, /əm/

Pronoun

um

1. (Southern Scots, personal) him

See also

• hei

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *umъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ûːm/

Noun

ȗm m (Cyrillic spelling у̑м)

1. mind
2. intellect
3. wit

Declension

Declension of um

	singular	plural
nominative	ȗm	úmovi
genitive	uma	umova
dative	umu	umovima
accusative	um	umove
vocative	ume	umovi
locative	umu	umovima
instrumental	umom	umovima

Further reading

• “um”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *umъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [um]

Noun

um m inan

1. mind
2. intellect
3. wit

Declension

Declension of um
(pattern dub)

	singular	plural
nominative	um	umy
genitive	umu	umov
dative	umu	umom
accusative	um	umy
locative	ume	umoch
instrumental	umom	umami

Synonyms

• rozum m
• hlava f
• zmysel m

Derived terms

• umček
• umný
• umový

References

• “um”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025