different between mum vs meum

English

Alternative forms

• mam
• mom, Mom (US)
• Mum

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Etymology 1

Alternative form of mam, or an abbreviation of mummy. Compare mom, mama.

Noun

mum (plural mums)

1. (Britain, Australia, New England, Canada, informal) Mother.
   • 1993, Hilda Hollingsworth, Places of Greater Safety, Zenobia Press edition, page 278,

     'Ooh Mum, Auntie don?t allow smokin’ - Pat?s eyes were round with awe as Mum struck a match.

   • 2004, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, Irene Dunlap, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2, page 336,

     Her mum says that she is deaf and only partially sighted, so I need to go and stand in front of her, so she can see the gift.

   • 2006, Kathryn Lasky, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Book 11: To Be a King, page 88,

     “Mum! Mum!” he shouted out. The laughter stopped. Two bright, sparkling yellow eyes peeped from the hollow. Atop her head were the fluffy ear tufts that his mum was so proud of because they were fuller and lovelier than those of most Great Horned Owls. It was indeed his mum!

   • 2011, Chyna, FAM: Rolling in a London Girl Gang, unnumbered page,

     He?s looking at my mum, at her swollen eyes, busted nose and bloodied lips. She?s mashed up something chronic, and the man who did this to her is my dad.

2. (dated, colloquial) ma'am; a term of respect for an older woman.
   • 1840, Charles Dickens, Master Humphrey's Clock, Volume 1, 1851, page 130,

     “Wy, mum,” said Mr. Weller, “I don?t think you?ll see a many sich, and that?s the truth. But if my son Samivel vould give me my vay, mum, and dis-pense with his—might I wenter to say the vurd?”

     “What word Mr Weller?” said the housekeeper, blushing slightly.

     “Petticuts, mum,” returned that gentleman, laying his had upon the garments of his grandson. “If my son Samivel vould only dis-pense vith these here, you?d see sich a alteration in his appearance, as the imagination can?t depicter!”

   • 1885, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 2011, unnumbered page,

     Then she took off the hank and looked me straight in the face, and very pleasant, and says:

     “Come, now, what?s your real name?

     “Wh — what, mum?”

     “What?s your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob? — Or what is it?”

Usage notes

Mum is only capitalized when used as a proper noun:

• I don't think Mum will like you.
• I don't think my mum will like you.
• In New England, the word may still be spelt "mom", but it will have the pronunciation of "mum".

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:mother

Translations

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of chrysanthemum.

Noun

mum (plural mums)

1. A chrysanthemum.

Etymology 3

From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).

Alternative forms

• (verb): mumm (archaic)

Adjective

mum (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Silent.
2. (colloquial) Secret.

Derived terms

• keep mum
• mum's the word

Interjection

mum!

1. stop speaking!, stop talking!, hush!

Verb

mum (third-person singular simple present mums, present participle mumming, simple past and past participle mummed)

1. To act in a pantomime or dumb show.

Noun

mum (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) silence

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hudibras to this entry?)

Etymology 4

German Mumme, named after Christian Mumme, who first brewed it in 1492.

Noun

mum (uncountable)

1. A type of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)

Anagrams

• MMU, umm

Abinomn

Noun

mum

1. eeltail catfish

Forak

Noun

mum

1. breast

Further reading

• John Carter, Katie Carter, John Grummitt, Bonnie MacKenzie, Janell Masters, A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Mur Village Vernaculars (2012)

Turkish

Etymology

From Persian ???? (mum).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mum/

Noun

mum (definite accusative mumu, plural mumlar)

1. candle

Declension

Derived terms

• mumluk

Zazaki

Noun

mum

1. candle

English

Etymology

From Latin m?um (“Meum athamanticum”), from Ancient Greek ???? (mêon), probably from ????? (meîon, “lesser”) for its small size.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?mi??m/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?mi.?m/

Noun

meum (uncountable)

1. spignel, Meum athamanticum

   Synonyms: meon, meu, baldmoney, bearwort

Translations

References

• Meum athamanticum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Meum athamanticum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Meum athamanticum on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Latin

Etymology 1

Translated by Pliny the Elder from Ancient Greek ???? (mêon, “Meum athamanticum”), probably from ????? (meîon, “lesser”) for its small size.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?me?.um/, [?me????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?me.um/, [?m??um]

Noun

m?um n (genitive m??); second declension

1. an umbelliferous plant, Meum athamanticum

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Descendants

• English: meum
• Middle French: meu (perhaps)
  • English: meu
• Translingual: Meum, Meum athamanticum

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?me.um/, [?me???]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?me.um/, [?m??um]
• (Classical) IPA^(key): /meu?m/, [m?u?m]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /meu?m/, [m?u?m]

Pronoun

meum

1. nominative neuter singular of meus
2. accusative masculine singular of meus
3. accusative neuter singular of meus
4. vocative neuter singular of meus

See also

• tuus
• suus

References

• meum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• meum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.