um

See also: Appendix:Variations of "um"

§English

§Etymology 1

From Middle English um, from Old Norse um, umb (“around, about”), from Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around”), from Proto-Indo-European *ambʰi- (“by, around”). Cognate with Old English ymbe (“around”). More at umbe.

§Alternative forms

• umb, umbe

§Preposition

um

1. alternative form of umbe

§Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

§Alternative forms

• umm

§Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

Used in rhotic dialects. Compare to English erm.

§Interjection

um

1. (chiefly US) Expression of confusion or space filler in conversation. See uh.

   Um, I don’t know.

   Let’s see... um... how about this?

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

     "About the same, wherever you go," he agreed.

     "Um," I said.

§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 confusion or hesitancy.

§Etymology 3

A Latin-script rendering of µm.

§Pronunciation

• Pronounced as micrometer.

§Noun

um (plural um)

1. Alternative spelling of µm

§Anagrams

• mu, Mu, MU

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§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)

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§Faroese

§Etymology

From Old Norse umb, from Proto-Germanic *umbi, from Proto-Indo-European *ambʰi- (“by, around”).

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊmː/

§Preposition

um

1. (with accusative) around
2. (with accusative) about
3. (with accusative) during
4. (with accusative) through
5. (with accusative) over

§Conjunction

um

1. whether, if

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§German

§Etymology

From Old High German umbi, from Proto-Germanic *umbi, from Proto-Indo-European *ambʰi- (“by, around”).

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊm/

• audio (Germany)

  (file)

• audio (Austria)

  (file)

§Preposition

um

1. (with accusative) about, used with es geht

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

2. (with accusative) around

   Um die Ecke

   around the corner

3. (with accusative) At when relating to time (because the hands of a clock go around, the clock)

   Um acht Uhr reisen wir ab

   At eight o’clock we depart

§Conjunction

um (introduces a zu-clause)

1. in order to, so as to

   Wir sind gekommen, um zu helfen.

   We have come (in order) to help.

§Adjective

1. up, in the sense of finished

   Werden dich in kurzem binden/ Erdgeist, deine Zeit ist um (Friedrich von Hardenberg, Novalis)

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

§Adverb

um

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

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§Icelandic

§Alternative forms

• umb

§Adverb

um

1. used in set phrases

   Það er um að gera að sofa vel.

   The important thing to do it to sleep well.

   Hvað er um að vera?

   What's going on?

   Eins og um var talað.

   As was agreed.

§Derived terms

• vera um og ó

§Preposition

um

1. (with accusative) about, concerning

   Um hvað ertu að tala?

   What are you talking about?

   Spurning um líf og dauða.

   A question of life and death.

2. (with accusative) 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. (with accusative) 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. (with accusative) 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. (with accusative) approximately, about, around

   Pokinn er um fjórir kíló.

   The bag 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

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

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§Indo-Portuguese

§Etymology

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

§Article

um

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

     Um homm tinh doiz filh:

     A man had two sons:

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§Irish

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʊmˠ]

§Preposition

um (triggers lenition of c, d, f, g, s, t)

1. about
2. at

§Inflection

	Singular				Plural
Person	1st	2nd	3rd m.	3rd f.	1st	2nd	3rd
Normal	umam	umat	uime	uimpi	umainn	umaibh	umpu
Emphatic	umamsa	umatsa	uimesean	uimpise	umainne	umaibhse	umpusan

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§Livonian

§Verb

um

1. 1st person singular present indicative form of vȱlda
2. 3rd person singular present indicative form of vȱlda

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§Luxembourgish

§Contraction

um

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

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§Old Norse

§Alternative forms

• umb

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

§Descendants

• Danish: om
• Faroese: um
• Icelandic: um

• Norwegian: om
• Swedish: om

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§Portuguese

Portuguese cardinal numbers

0	1	2
Cardinal : um     Ordinal : primeiro
Portuguese Wikipedia article on um

§Alternative forms

• hum (obsolete)

§Etymology

From Old Portuguese ũu (“one; a”), from Latin ūnus (“one”), from Old Latin oinos, from Proto-Italic *oinos, from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”).

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈũ]
• Hyphenation: um

§Numeral

um m (feminine uma)

1. one.

   Uma xícara de café (One cup of coffee)

§Article

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

1. (indefinite) a, an; some (in plural).
   • 2005, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Rocco, page 186:

     Tenho um recado para você.

     I have a message for you.

   • 2005, Lya Wyler (translator), J. K. Rowling (English author), Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), Rocco, page 361:

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

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

§See also

Portuguese articles (edit)
	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Definite articles (the)	o	a	os	as
Indefinite articles (a, an; some)	um	uma	uns	umas

§Noun

um m (plural uns)

1. 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)

§Pronoun

um

1. A person: one, someone; some people: some (in plural).

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

2. Element(s) of a previously mentioned class: one; some (in plural).

   Comprei uns e me decepcionei (I bought some and got disappointed)

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§Romansch

§Etymology

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

§Noun

um m (plural umens)

1. man
2. husband

§Coordinate terms

• dunna

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§Scots

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌm/, /əm/

§Pronoun

um

1. (South Scots, personal) him

§See also

• hei

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§Serbo-Croatian

§Etymology

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

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§Slovak

§Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *umъ.

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /um/

§Noun

um m (genitive singular umu, nominative plural umy), declension pattern dub

1. mind
2. intellect
3. wit

§Declension

Declension of um

	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

§References

• um in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk