dam

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of dam in English

English Online Dictionary. What means dam‎? What does dam mean?

Translingual

Symbol

dam

(metrology) Symbol for decameter (decametre), an SI unit of length equal to 10¹ meters (metres).
(international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Damakawa.

English

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /dæm/
Homophone: damn
Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

From Middle English dam, from Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun

dam (plural dams)

A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding.
The water reservoir resulting from placing such a structure.
(dentistry) A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.
(South Africa, Australia) A reservoir.
A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dam (third-person singular simple present dams, present participle damming, simple past and past participle dammed)

(transitive) To block the flow of water.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Variant of dame. Doublet of domina and donna.

Noun

dam (plural dams)

Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals.
A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts.

Coordinate terms

(male parent): sire

Translations

Etymology 3

Said to be possibly coined from the English phrase "I don't give a dam(n)," referring to its small worth.

Noun

dam (plural dams) (historical)

(India) An obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee.
A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar.

References

Etymology 4

Clipping or Pronunciation spelling of damn.

Alternative forms

dam'

Interjection

dam

(slang or pronunciation spelling) Damn.

Adjective

dam (not comparable)

(slang or pronunciation spelling) Damn.

Anagrams

DMA, Mad, MAD, Adm, MDA, Adm., adm., mad, AMD, ADM

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch dam, from Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Pronunciation

Noun

dam (plural damme)

pond, basin
dam

Derived terms

opgaardam
studam

Arem

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *ɗam, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *p(ɗ)am; cognate with Vietnamese năm.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [dam]

Numeral

dam

five

Azerbaijani

Etymology 1

From Old Anatolian Turkish طام (d̥am, dam), from Proto-Turkic *tām.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɑm/

Noun

dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

roof
hovel, shack
dugout
cowshed, sheep cote (a structure where animals are held)
donuz damı ― pigsty

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Persian (“trap”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɑm/

Noun

dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

(figurative) lockup, jail, quod
dama basdırmaq ― to lock up, to put in jail
(archaic) grid, net
(archaic) trap, snare
Synonyms: tələ, cələ, duzaq

dam qurmaq ― to set a trap

Declension

Cebuano

Etymology

From English dam, from Middle English dam, damme, from Old English *dam, *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun

dam

a dam; a structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow
a reservoir

Crimean Tatar

Noun

dam (accusative [please provide], plural [please provide])

stable
roof
taste

Declension

Synonyms

(stable): aran
(taste): lezet, nezet, tat, dad

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse dammr (“dam”).

Noun

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite damme)

pond
corf, livewell (for storage of live fish under water)

Inflection

Derived terms

dambrug n

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French jeu de dames (“draughts”).

Noun

dam c or n

draughts, checkers

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French dame (“lady”).

Noun

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite dammer)

king (superior piece in draughts)

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɑm/
Hyphenation: dam
Homophone: Dam
Rhymes: -ɑm

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun

dam m (plural dammen, diminutive dammetje n)

Derived terms

- general:

- toponyms:

Descendants

Afrikaans: dam
→ Caribbean Hindustani: dám
→ Indonesian: dam (“dam”)
→ Papiamentu: dam
→ Saramaccan: dan
→ Sranan Tongo: dan, dam
- → Caribbean Javanese: dham

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French dame, from Spanish dama.

Noun

dam f (plural dammen)

(checkers) king (double draught/checker)

Related terms

dammen

Descendants

→ Indonesian: dam (“draught/checker(s)”)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

dam

inflection of dammen:
1. first-person singular present indicative
2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
3. imperative

French

Etymology

Inherited from Latin damnum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (predominant) /dam/, (dated) /dɑ̃/, (archaic) /dan/
Homophones: dams (general), dame, dames (form 1), dans, dent, dents (form 2)

Noun

dam m (plural dams)

(obsolete except in phrases) damage
(religion) damnation

Derived terms

au grand dam de

Related terms

damner
dommage

References

Anagrams

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin damnum.

Noun

dam m (plural dams)

damage

Synonyms

daneç

Related terms

danâ

Galician

Verb

dam

(reintegrationist norm) third-person plural present indicative of dar

Garo

Etymology

Borrowed from Bengali দাম (dam).

Noun

dam

price

Indonesian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈdam]
Hyphenation: dam

Etymology 1

From Dutch dam (“king (draught/checkers)”), from Middle French dame, from Old French dame, from Latin domina.

Noun

dam (first-person possessive damku, second-person possessive dammu, third-person possessive damnya)

(games) draught (American), checkers (British).
checker, a pattern of alternating colours as on a chessboard.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Dutch dam (“dam”), from Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun

dam (first-person possessive damku, second-person possessive dammu, third-person possessive damnya)

dam, a structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding.

Synonyms

bendung, bendungan
empangan (Standard Malay)
tanggul

Compounds

Etymology 3

From Arabic دَم (dam, “blood”), from Proto-Semitic *dam-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *dam-.

Noun

dam (first-person possessive damku, second-person possessive dammu, third-person possessive damnya)

(Islam) fine, a punishment for breaking the law.

Irish

Pronoun

dam (emphatic damsa)

Alternative form of dom (“for/to me”)

Komo

Noun

dam

honey

Lashi

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *l-(t/d)jam (“full, flat”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dam/

Adjective

dam

flat

References

Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎^[2], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Malay

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /däm/
Rhymes: -am

Noun

dam (Jawi spelling دم, plural dam-dam, informal 1st possessive damku, 2nd possessive dammu, 3rd possessive damnya)

draughts; checkers (two-player board game).

Maltese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /daːm/

Etymology 1

From Arabic دَامَ (dāma).

Verb

dam (imperfect jdum, verbal noun dewm or dewmien or dawmien)

to last; to take (time, especially long time)
Synonym: (imperfect only) jtul

Alternative form: diem

Conjugation

Etymology 2

From Arabic إِدَام (ʔidām).

Noun

dam m

tallow

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm.

Alternative forms

damme, dame

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dam/

Noun

dam

dam (structure to block water)
body of water

Descendants

English: dam
Scots: dam

References

“dam, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

dam

Alternative form of dame

Etymology 3

Noun

dam

(when preceding labials) Alternative form of dan

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish dam.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /daβ̃/

Noun

dam m (genitive daim)

Descendants

Irish: damh
Manx: dow
Scottish Gaelic: damh

Mutation

Mokilese

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *saman (“outrigger”), from Proto-Austronesian *saʀman (“outrigger”)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdam/

Noun

dam

(nautical) outrigger
(by metaphorical extension) wife

Possessive forms

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Danish dam, from Old Norse dammr m, damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?].

Noun

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammer, definite plural dammene)

a pond
a dam (structure)

Synonyms

demning (structure)

Etymology 2

From French jeu de dames.

Noun

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammer, definite plural dammene)

the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

References

“dam” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?].

Noun

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammar, definite plural dammane)

a pond
a dam (structure)

Synonyms

demning (structure)

Etymology 2

From French jeu de dames.

Noun

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammar, definite plural dammane)

the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

References

“dam” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Alternative forms

ab (Gard)
amb (Languedoc)
ambé (Provençal)
dab (Gascony)
damb (Gascony)
emb (Limousin)
embé (Provençal)

Pronunciation

Adverb

dam

(Gascony) (accompaniment) with

Old Irish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [daβ̃]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *damos, from Proto-Indo-European *dm̥h₂-ó- (“bull”) (compare Albanian dem (“bullock”), Ancient Greek δάμαλος (dámalos, “calf”)), from *demh₂- (“to tame”) (compare Old Irish daimid (“to allow, give in”), Latin domō, English tame).

Noun

dam m (genitive daim)

ox
- c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 10^d6
stag
(by extension) hero, champion

Declension

Derived terms

damán m (“calf”)

Descendants

Middle Irish: dam
- Irish: damh
- Manx: dow
- Scottish Gaelic: damh

Noun

dam f

hind, cow (old feminine form of previous)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

dam

second-person singular imperative of daimid

·dam

inflection of daimid:
1. third-person singular present indicative conjunct
2. first-person singular present subjunctive conjunct

Etymology 3

Pronoun

dam

Alternative form of dom (“to/for me”)

Mutation

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdam/
Rhymes: -am
Syllabification: dam

Verb

dam

first-person singular future of dać

Noun

dam

genitive plural of dama

Rohingya

Alternative forms

𐴊𐴝𐴔𐴢 (dam) — Hanifi Rohingya script

Etymology

From Magadhi Prakrit 𑀤𑀫𑁆𑀫 (damma), from Sanskrit দ্ৰম্ম (drámma), borrowed from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). Cognate with Bengali দাম (dam).

Noun

dam (Hanifi spelling 𐴊𐴝𐴔𐴢)

price
Synonyms: dor, kimot

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دام (dam), from Old Turkic [script needed] (tam), from Proto-Turkic *tām.

Noun

dam n (plural damuri)

cowshed

Declension

San Juan Guelavía Zapotec

Noun

dam

References

López Antonio, Joaquín, Jones, Ted, Jones, Kris (2012) Vocabulario breve del Zapoteco de San Juan Guelavía‎^[3] (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Tlalpan, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., pages 14, 23, 40

Sumerian

Romanization

dam

Romanization of 𒁮 (dam)

Swedish

Etymology

From French dame.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɑːm/

Noun

dam c

a lady, a woman
(card games, chess, checkers) a queen
ruter dam ― queen of diamonds

Declension

Synonyms

(in chess): drottning

Derived terms

References

dam in Svensk ordbok (SO)
dam in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
dam in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish طام (dam), from Old Turkic [script needed] (tam), from Proto-Turkic *tām. Cognate with Uyghur تام (tam, “wall”).

Compare Korean 담 (dam, “wall”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɑm/
Rhymes: -dɑm

Noun

dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

roof
cowshed, sheep cote (a structure where animals are held)
(figurative, informal) lockup, jail

Uzbek

Noun

dam (plural damlar)

moment, second

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

đam

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *k-taːm; ultimately from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kt₁aam (“crab”). ‹d› here is the result of lenition (Proto-Vietic *k-t- > Middle Vietnamese ‹d› /ð/ > Modern Vietnamese ‹d›). Compare đam, the form with unlenited initial consonant.

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zaːm˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [jaːm˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [jaːm˧˧]

Noun

(classifier con) dam

(North Central Vietnam) field crab; freshwater crab

Zoogocho Zapotec

Noun

dam

References

Long C., Rebecca, Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)‎^[6] (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 215

dam

dam

Translingual

Symbol

See also

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

Coordinate terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

References

Etymology 4

Alternative forms

Interjection

Adjective

Further reading

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Arem

Etymology

Pronunciation

Numeral

Further reading

Azerbaijani

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Cebuano

Etymology

Noun

Crimean Tatar

Noun

Declension

Synonyms

Danish

Etymology 1

Noun

Inflection

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

Etymology 3

Noun

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Noun

Related terms

Descendants

Etymology 3

Verb

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms