different between oom vs foom

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans oom. Doublet of eam.

Pronunciation

• (General South African) IPA^(key): /??m/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m/

Noun

oom (plural ooms)

1. (South Africa) An older man, especially an uncle. (Frequently as a respectful form of address.) [from 19th c.]
   • 1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage 1998, p. 73:

     He raised his glass. ‘Here's to you, Oom Ben,’ he said. ‘Give them hell.’

Anagrams

• MOO, Moo, moo, omo-

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch oom, from Middle Dutch oom, from Old Dutch *?m, from Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz (“maternal uncle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o?m/

Noun

oom (plural ooms, diminutive oompie)

1. uncle

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch oom, from Old Dutch *?m, from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim (“maternal uncle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o?m/
• Hyphenation: oom
• Rhymes: -o?m

Noun

oom m (plural ooms, diminutive oompje n)

1. uncle

   Synonym: nonkel

Alternative forms

• noom
• ome

Derived terms

• heeroom
• oomschap
• oomzegger
• oudoom
• peetoom
• suikeroom

Descendants

• Afrikaans: oom
• ? Indonesian: om
• ? West Frisian: omme, omke
• ? Sranan Tongo: omu

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *?m, from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim (“maternal uncle”).

Noun

ôom m

1. uncle, brother of one's parent (originally specifically one's mother)

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: oom
  • Afrikaans: oom
  • ? Indonesian: om
  • ? West Frisian: omme, omke
  • ? Sranan Tongo: omu
• Limburgish: oeam

Further reading

• “oom”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “oom”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN

Wolof

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??m/

Noun

oom

1. knee

English

Etymology

Imitative. Compare boom.

Interjection

foom

1. The sound of a muffled explosion.
   • 2000, James Bradley, Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima

     Those flat-trajectory shells would skim straight in, making a roaring sound in the dark: Foom! Foom! Foom!

   • 2007, Warren Murphy, James Mullaney, The New Destroyer: Guardian Angel

     A soft, distant foom. The lights blinked, then faded. Foom-foom-foom! Explosions, one after another, rocked the tunnel.

Noun

foom (plural fooms)

1. A sudden increase in artificial intelligence such that an AI system becomes extremely powerful.

Verb

foom (third-person singular simple present fooms, present participle fooming, simple past and past participle foomed)

1. To exhibit an AI foom.

Anagrams

• FOMO, FoMO, mofo, moof

Middle English

Noun

foom

1. Alternative form of fome