-um

See also: Appendix:Variations of "um"

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əm/

Etymology 1

From the homographic case endings of the nominative, accusative, and vocative forms of numerous neuter Latin second declension nouns.

Suffix

-um (plural -a)

1. Denotes singular grammatical number.
2. (chemistry) Forms the ends of the names of certain elements (such as molybdenum and platinum).

Usage notes

• The vast majority of words which feature this suffix also have standard -ums plurals formed by suffixation with the -s plural suffix. However, in such situations, the -s suffix morphologically is additional to and separate from the -um suffix.

Derived terms

Terms which feature the -um suffix

• criterium
• datum
• decennium
• delirium
• desideratum
• erratum (cf. German Irrtum)
• fatum
• forum
• gymnasium
• honorarium
• imperium
• interbellum (between war(s))
• labarum
• lucidum
• mandatum
• maximum
• medium
• minimum
• millennium
• modicum
• mortuarium
• museum
• opium
• optimum
• Persarum
• pessarium
• podium
• postbellum (after war)
• referendum
• sanatorium
• solarium
• stadium
• talcum (any shiny mineral)
• tedium
• ultimatum
• unicum
• vacuum
• Valium

Translations

Latinate singular grammatical number suffix

Dutch: -um (nl) French: -um (fr) German: -um Greek: -ο (el) (-o), -ον (el) (-on) Italian: -o (it), -a (it) Japanese: ウム (-umu) Portuguese: -o (pt) Spanish: -o (es) Swedish: -um (sv)

See also

See also

• -a
• -ium
• -on
• -os
• -us

Etymology 2

Possibly from 'em.

Suffix

-um

1. Denotes transitive verbs in the trade pidgins used between English-speakers and indigenous populations; used derogatorily by extension in English by addition to any verb, transitive or not.
   • 1871, Mrs. Edward Millett, An Australian parsonage; or, The settler and the savage in Western Australia, page 129:

     Having finished her return of deaths, she went on to say "Black fellow sick—white lady fowl sendum—white lady kangaroo sendum—master all self eatum—" but here she paused and made an exception in favour of the matron, expressed by the words " Missis not eatum—missis good fellow."

   • 1896, F J Stimsom, King Noanett: A Story of Old Virginia and the Massachusetts Bay, page 254:

     "Givum dinner; smokum pipe," was all that we could get out of Quatchett.

Derived terms

(any sense):

English terms suffixed with -um

Anagrams

• -mu-, MU, Mu, mu

Bislama

Alternative forms

• -em
• -im

Etymology

From English him, 'em.

Suffix

-um

1. Indicates a transitive verb

Usage notes

The suffix to be used is determined by vowel harmony. If the last vowel in the stem is u, then the suffix is -um. Otherwise, use -em or -im.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin -ūmen (action noun suffix), an extended form of -men.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈum]

Suffix

-um m

1. used to form nouns, usually with a collective and pejorative connotation

   ‎greix (“grease”) + ‎-um → ‎greixum (“grime, grunge”)

   ‎pixar (“to piss”) + ‎-um → ‎pixum (“piss, urine”)

Derived terms

Catalan terms suffixed with -um

Further reading

• “-um”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024

Dutch

Suffix

-um (plural -a or -ums)

1. denotes singular grammatical number of words of Latin origins

Usage notes

• Both the plural forms of -a and -ums are used in everyday language, but the latter is sometimes proscribed against.

See also

• -s

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊm/

Etymology 1

From Latin -um.

Suffix

-um n (plural -en or -a)

1. generally unproductive suffix found in neuter nouns of Latin origin

Etymology 2

As a variant of -heim through reduction to [əm] and subsequent backing. Compare -em. This is the only origin in most areas, but along the North Sea coast, where the suffix is most frequent, it sometimes goes back to Old Frisian -em, -um (dative plural ending), equivalent to German -en as in -hausen. Distinguishing both origins is often impossible, however.

Suffix

-um

1. (unproductive) a placename suffix, often an alternative form of -heim

Derived terms

• Accum
• Ackerum
• Adlum
• Ahlum
• Alkersum
• Alsum
• Ammersum
• Amrum
• Ankum
• Archsum
• Arnum
• Atzum
• Austum
• Baccum
• Bachum
• Bakum
• Balkum
• Baltrum
• Bargum
• Barum
• Bassum
• Beckum
• Beinum
• Bekum
• Belum
• Berkum
• Berum
• Bettrum
• Bingum
• Blersum
• Bochum
• Boldixum
• Bolzum
• Bondelum
• Bordelum
• Borgsum
• Borkum
• Bornum
• Börßum
• Borsum
• Breinum
• Breklum
• Brinkum
• Brockum
• Bültum
• Büsum
• Canum
• Carum
• Cirkwehrum
• Critzum
• Dahlum
• Dalum
• Damsum
• Dersum
• Dettum
• Ditzum
• Dornum
• Dorum
• Dötzum
• Dratum
• Dunsum
• Dunum
• Eckum
• Eickum
• Eilsum
• Eilum
• Einum
• Eitzum
• Esklum
• Extum
• Filsum
• Flechum
• Freepsum
• Fulkum
• Garbolzum
• Grimersum
• Gyhum
• Hamswehrum
• Harsum
• Harum
• Hassum
• Hatzum
• Haxtum
• Heersum
• Heinum
• Heissum
• Herbrum
• Herßum
• Heyersum
• Hilmarsum
• Holsthum
• Holtum
• Holum
• Hommersum
• Hönnersum
• Hörnum
• Horum
• Hötzum
• Hüddessum
• Husum
• Imsum
• Itzum
• Jarssum
• Jemgum
• Kalkum
• Karlum
• Kehrum
• Keitum
• Kirchborgum
• Klintum
• Kökelsum
• Kölsum
• Krukum
• Kuckum
• Landersum
• Latum
• Leversum
• Loccum
• Logabirum
• Loikum
• Loppersum
• Luttrum
• Luttum
• Lutum
• Machtsum
• Mahlum
• Matrum
• Mehrum
• Mesum
• Midlum
• Morsum
• Muckum
• Mulsum
• Mundersum
• Mussum
• Nieblum
• Oberhelsum
• Ochtersum
• Ochtum
• Oedelum
• Oevenum
• Ohlum
• Ohrum
• Oldsum
• Oppum
• Östrum
• Pelkum
• Petkum
• Pewsum
• Pogum
• Polsum
• Querum
• Rantum
• Reckelsum
• Reckum
• Reeßum
• Risum
• Roklum
• Rorichum
• Röttum
• Rötzum
• Rysum
• Siegelsum
• Sillium
• Sorsum
• Sottrum
• Stadum
• Stedum
• Stockum
• Struckum
• Styrum
• Süderlügum
• Sussum
• Sustrum
• Sutrum
• Sydikum
• Tetekum
• Thunum
• Tinnum
• Toftum
• Twixlum
• Utersum
• Uthwerdum
• Uttum
• Vahnum
• Vanikum
• Vernum
• Vinnum
• Vöhrum
• Vossum
• Wachtum
• Waggum
• Walchum
• Walsum
• Wankum
• Watzum
• Wätzum
• Wehrum
• Werdum
• Wessum
• Westrum
• Westum
• Winkum
• Wirdum
• Witsum
• Wrixum
• Wybelsum

 

Hungarian

Etymology

From Latin -um (“2nd declension neuter nominative singular termination”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [um]

Suffix

-um

1. A distinguishable foreign word-ending in nouns of Latin origin. It is not considered an independent Hungarian suffix.

   abszurdum (“absurdity”)

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

References

• Attila Mártonfi: The System of the Hungarian Suffixes, Theses of PhD Dissertation, Budapest, 2006

Icelandic

Suffix

-um

1. Used to form the dative plural of most nouns, all strong adjectives and most pronouns.
   • hestur → hestum — a horse → of the horses
   • ríkur → ríkum — rich → of the rich
2. Used to form the first person plural of verbs in the indicative and subjunctive, past and present.
   • telja (infinitive) → við teljum (we count or believe) (indicative)
   • við teldum subjunctive past tense, i.e., we would believe
3. Used to form some adverbs from nouns or adjectives — it is actually a frozen dative
   • stund (time, hour) → stundum — sometimes
   • langur (long) → löngum (oftentimes).

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /um/, [ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /um/, [um]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *-om, from Proto-Indo-European *-om (thematic masculine singular accusative and neuter singular nominative and accusative ending).

Alternative forms

• -om (conditioned variant used after -v-, -qu-, -gu-, -u- up through the middle of the first century AD)

Suffix

-um

1. inflection of -us:
   1. accusative masculine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular

Etymology 2

From Proto-Italic *-om, from Proto-Indo-European *-oHom (genitive plural ending).

Alternative forms

• -om (conditioned variant used after -v-, -qu-, -gu-, -u- up through the middle of the first century AD)
• -ûm, -ôm; -ūm, -ōm (variant spellings previously used in specific contexts in New Latin and modern editions of Old/Classical/Late Latin works. See usage notes.)

Suffix

-um

1. genitive plural ending
   1. Found in -ōrum
   2. Found in -ārum
   3. genitive plural of -s

Usage notes

Latin genitive plural forms take the ending -um either by itself, or with additional preceding material (generally determined by the word's conjugation class). First and second declension nouns and adjectives usually have genitive plural forms ending in -ārum and -ōrum, but some words can take the short ending -um (without preceding -ār-/-ōr-) instead: this is common with words denoting weights, measures and monetary value and with distributive numerals.^[1][2]

• In the second declension, the genitive plural in -um can be found:
  • in distributive numerals: e.g. bīnus
  • in names of weights and measures: dēnārius, medimnum, nummus, sēstertius, stadium, talentum
  • in deus and dīvus (the latter having the archaic genitive plural form divom, spelled with O due to the preceding V)
  • in various other words, especially in poetry
• In the first declension, the genitive plural in -um can be found:
  • in the Greek-derived measure words amphora and drachma (less frequently than drachmārum)
  • in dactylic verse, in compounds of -cola and -gena
  • in dactylic verse, in some masculine Greek proper nouns, such as patronymics

The spelling -ûm (or -ôm after V/U), introduced in the Renaissance, is used in some New Latin texts for forms such as amphorûm and deûm. These were incorrectly interpreted as contractions of amphorārum and deōrum, and as a result, it was assumed that genitive plural deum ended in -ūm (with a vowel long by nature) in contrast to accusative singular deum (ending in -ŭm, with a vowel short by nature). Compare the use of the circumflex in New Latin to distinguish the ablative ending -â (with long ā) from the nominative/vocative ending -a (with short ă) in first declension singular nouns, or to mark third-person plural perfect forms ending in -ēre, which was assumed to be a "contracted" form of the alternative ending -ērunt (e.g. fuêre, taken to be a contraction of fuerent^[3]). However, the assumed distinction between deûm with long ū and deum with short ŭ is outdated: according to modern etymological understanding, all Latin words ending in -um, regardless of their case, number or declension, were pronounced in Classical Latin with a short vowel in the final syllable.^[4][5] Rather than being contractions, second-declension genitive plural forms in -um such as deum are archaisms showing the original Proto-Indo-European inflection pattern for nouns of this this declension.

Third declension words that have genitive plurals ending in -um as an alternative to -ium have also been spelled with -ûm, again with the justification that the shorter ending is interpreted as being a contraction of the longer variant.^[6] Examples are coelestûm and caedûm used as spellings of the short genitive plurals of coelestis and caedes (compared to the long forms coelestium and caedium).^[7]

Aside from the contraction hypothesis, the use of the circumflexed spelling -ûm may additionally have been influenced by the use of the circumflex in the spelling of Greek genitive plural forms ending in -ῶν.^[8]

References

1. Roby, Henry John. A Grammar of the Latin Language from Plautus to Suetonius, Volume 1, (1872), page 124
2. Zumpt, Karl Gottlob. A Grammar of the Latin Language, Fourth Edition, translated by John Kenrick (1836), page 10
3. Donaldson, John William (1860) Varronianus: A Critical and Historical Introduction to the Ethnography of Ancient Italy and to the Philological Study of the Latin Language, 3rd edition, page 303
4. Charles E. Bennett (1907) “Hidden Quantity”, in The Latin Language – a historical outline of its sounds, inflections, and syntax, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, pages 46-48
5. Piet Steenbakkers, Spinoza's Ethica from Manuscript to Print: Studies on text, form and related topics, 1994, page 78
6. Carey, John (1821) A Clue for Young Latinists, and Non-Latinists, to trace the original forms and signification of nouns and verbs, from their terminations, alphabetically arranged, with explanatory references to the grammar, London, page 63
7. Walker, William. Some improvements to the art of teaching, especially in the first grounding of a young scholar in grammar learning. Shewing a short, sure, and easie way to bring a scholar to variety and elegancy in writing Latine. Written for the help and ease of all ushers of schools, and country school-masters, and for the use and profit of all younger scholars. 2nd ed. with many additions. 1676.
8. Mindaugas Strockis (2007) Klasikinių kalbų kirčio žymėjimo įtaka lietuvių kirčio žymėjimui (PhD dissertation) (in Lithuanian), Vilnius

Old English

Suffix

-um

1. Used to form the dative plural of essentially all nouns

   ‎hund (“dog”) + ‎-um → ‎hundum (“dogs”)

   ‎sċip (“ship”) + ‎-um → ‎sċipum (“ships”)

2. Used to form the strong and weak dative and instrumental plural of adjectives
3. Used to form the strong dative singular of masculine and neuter adjectives

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /um/

Suffix

-um (suffixed pronoun)

1. me

Derived terms

Category Old Irish terms suffixed with -um not found

See also

Person	Infixed			Suffixed
	Class A	Class B	Class C
1 sing.	m-L	dom-L, dam-L		-um
2 sing.	t-L	dot-L, dat-L, dut-L, dit-L		-ut
3 sing. m.	a-N, e-N	d-N	id-N, did-N, d-N	-i, -it
3 sing. f.	s-(N)	da-		-us
3 sing. n.	a-L, e-L	d-L	id-L, did-L, d-L	-i, -it
1 pl.	n-	don-, dun-, dan-		-unn
2 pl.	b-	dob-, dub-, dab-		-uib
3 pl.	s-(N)	da-		-us
L means this form triggers lenition. N means this form triggers nasalization (eclipsis) (N) means this form triggers nasalization in some texts but not in others.

Old Irish affixed pronouns

See Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns for details on how these forms are used.
Note that the so-called “infixed” pronouns are technically prefixes, but they are never the first prefix in a verbal complex.

Old Norse

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Suffix

-um

1. Used to form the dative plural of essentially all nouns and adjectives, as well as most pronouns
   • armr → ǫrmum
2. Used to denote the 1st person plural forms in the active indicative and imperative forms of most verbs

Phalura

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-um/

Suffix

-um

1. First person singular suffix

Alternative forms

• -úum (With a- and e-ending verb stems)
• -áam (With a- and e-ending verb stems in Biori)

References

• Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “-um”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎, Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Pijin

Alternative forms

• -em
• -im

Etymology

From English him, 'em.

Suffix

-um

1. Indicates a transitive verb

Usage notes

The suffix to be used is determined by vowel harmony. If the last vowel in the stem is u, then the suffix is -um. Otherwise, use -em or -im.

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin -um. Doublet of -o.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /um/
• Rhymes: -um
• Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]
• Homophone: um

Suffix

-um n

1. suffix used in singular forms of Latin neuter borrowings

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	-um	-a
genitive	-um	-ów
dative	-um	-om
accusative	-um	-a
instrumental	-um	-ami
locative	-um	-ach
vocative	-um	-a

Declension of -um

Scots

Alternative forms

• -im, -om, -am, -em

Etymology 1

From Middle English -um, from Old English -um, dative plural ending used to form adverbials.

Suffix

-um

1. (rare) Used to form adverbs.

   legim (“astride”)

Etymology 2

Probably of jocular formation, based partly on Latin -um and partly an altered form of -in(g)s, a verbal noun ending.

Suffix

-um

1. Added to nouns or verbs to form nouns with diminutive or hypocoristic force

Swedish

Suffix

-um n

1. ending used for some words of Latin origin

Usage notes

• The plural is usually either -um or rarely, -a, e.g. centrum or centra. In some words it may also be -er, i.e. centrer, cf. -ium which regularly has a plural on -ier, although sometimes also -ium in colloquial language. The Latin plural ending -a is nowadays proscribed.

Derived terms

Category Swedish terms suffixed with -um not found

See also

• -ium

Anagrams

• mu

Turkish

Suffix

-um

1. First-person singular possessive suffix denoting singular possession in words ending in a consonant.

   okul - okulum

   school - my school

   yol - yolum

   way - my way

2. Conjugation of the verb "to be" for first person singular simple present tense.

   masum - masumum

   innocent - I am innocent

Usage notes

• If the noun ends in a vowel, it becomes "-m" (for the possessive suffix)

  soru - sorum

• It's used only when the word's last vowel is "o" or "u". It may change into "-im", "-ım" and "-üm" according to the last vowel of the word. (possessive suffix)

  ev - evim (the last vowel is "e" or "i")

  kız - kızım (the last vowel is "a" or "ı")

  yüz - yüzüm (the last vowel is "ö" or "ü")

• If the word ends in "p", "ç", "t" or "k", it may change them into "b", "c", "d" and "ğ".

  grup - grubum

  burç - burcum

  periyot - periyodum

  çocuk - çocuğum

• It may cause the last vowel of the word to be dropped.

  burun - burnum

• If the word ends in a vowel, an auxiliary consonant is used ; "y". (for the verb to be)

  mutlu - mutluyum

• It must be used with an apostrophe while using with a proper noun.

  Umut - Umut'um

Volapük

Suffix

-um

1. Used to form the comparative form of adjectives.