um-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "um"

English

Alternative forms

umbe-, umb-

Etymology

From Middle English um-, umbe-, embe-, from Old English ymb-, ymbe- (“around”), from Proto-West Germanic *umbi-, from Proto-Germanic *umbi (“around, about, by, near”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“round about, around”). Cognate with Dutch om- (“around”), German um- (“around”), Latin amb- (“around, about”), Latin ambi- (“both”), Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “around, about”), Sanskrit अभि (abhi, “against, about”).

Prefix

um-

(rare, now rarely productive, primarily in dialects, chiefly Scotland) Prefix meaning around, about.

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with um-

Anagrams

-mu-, MU, Mu, mu

Faroese

Etymology

From the preposition um.

Prefix

um-

over, about, around

Derived terms

Faroese terms prefixed with um-

umhugsan

German

Etymology

From Middle High German um-, umb-, umme-, umbe-, from Old High German umbi- (“around”), from Proto-West Germanic *umbi-, from Proto-Germanic *umbi- (“around”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“by, near, around”). Cognate with English um-, Dutch om-, Swedish om-, Icelandic um-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʊm/, [ʔʊm]
Audio (Germany (Berlin)): (file)

Prefix

um- (separable or inseparable)

Usage notes

When this prefix is separable, the stress falls on the prefix: ˈumbiegen, ˈumbilden, ˈumdeuten, ˈumbenennen. When inseparable, the stress falls on the root: umˈflattern, umˈfluten, umˈgaukeln, umˈmauern, umˈgeben. The prefix is only unstressed/inseparable when referring to the first meaning. Sometimes this creates contrasting words with opposite meaning, only distinguished in stress and therefore undistinguishable in writing, e.g. umˈfahren (“drive around something”), ˈumfahren (“drive something over”).

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with um-

Kankanaey

Etymology

See -um-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔum/ [ʔom]
Syllabification: um-

Prefix

um-

prefix form of -um-

Usage notes

Used when the root begins with a vowel. Though appearing to be a prefix, the affix actually still functions as an infix, inserted between the unwritten initial glottal stop and the root's initial vowel.

Northern Ndebele

Etymology 1

Prefix

um-

Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2

Prefix

um-

Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Southern Ndebele

Etymology 1

Prefix

um-

Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2

Prefix

um-

Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Swazi

Etymology 1

Prefix

um-

Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2

Prefix

um-

Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Tagalog

Etymology

See -um-.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔum/ [ʔʊm]
Syllabification: um-

Prefix

um- (Baybayin spelling ᜂᜋ᜔)

prefix form of -um-
Umulan kanina.
It rained a while ago.

Umalis na ako.
I already left.

Usage notes

Used when the root begins with a vowel. Though appearing to be a prefix, the affix actually still functions as an infix, inserted between the unwritten initial glottal stop and the root's initial vowel.

Xhosa

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *jʊ̀-mʊ̀-.

Prefix

um-

Class 1 noun prefix.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *gʊ́-mʊ̀-.

Prefix

um-

Class 3 noun prefix.

Zulu

Etymology 1

Prefix

úm-

Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2

Prefix

úm-

Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

References

C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “um-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “um-”