dam

dam

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

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

Translingual

Symbol

dam

  1. (metrology) Symbol for the decameter (decametre), an SI unit of length equal to 101 meters (metres).

English

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

From Middle English dam, damme, from Old English *dam, *damm (inferred from derivative fordemman (“to hem in”)), from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

Noun

dam (plural dams)

  1. 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
  2. The water reservoir resulting from placing such structure.
  3. (dentistry) A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.
  4. (South Africa, Australia) A reservoir.
  5. A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.
  6. (India) An obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee.
Translations

Verb

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

  1. To block the flow of water.
Translations
See also
  • dam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References


Etymology 2

Variant of dame.

Noun

dam (plural dams)

  1. Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals (correlative to sire).
    • Shakespeare
      The dam runs lowing up and down, / Looking the way her harmless young one went.
    • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, I:
      she / Resolved that Juan should be quite a paragon, / And worthy of the noblest pedigree / (His sire was from Castile, his dam from Aragon) […].
    • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, 1992, p.112:
      The sky was cloudless—the moon rolled across the surface like a lamb searching for its dam.
  2. A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts.
Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

dam (plural dams)

  1. A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar.

Further reading

  • Dam in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

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

Afrikaans

Etymology

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

Noun

dam (plural damme)

  1. pond, basin
  2. dam

Derived terms

  • opgaardam
  • studam

Cebuano

Etymology

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

Noun

dam

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

Crimean Tatar

Noun

dam

  1. stable
  2. roof
  3. 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)

  1. pond
  2. 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, n

  1. draughts, checkers

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French dame (“lady”).

Noun

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite dammer)

  1. king (superior piece in draughts)
Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɑm/
  • Hyphenation: dam
  • Rhymes: -ɑm

Etymology 1

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

Noun

dam m (plural dammen, diminutive dammetje n)

  1. dam
Derived terms
  • beverdam
  • lavadam
  • muurdam
  • stuwdam
  • visdam
  • Amsterdam
  • Rotterdam
Descendants
  • Afrikaans: dam

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French dame, from Spanish dama.

Noun

dam f (plural dammen)

  1. (checkers) king (double draught/checker)
Related terms
  • dammen

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

dam

  1. first-person singular present indicative of dammen
  2. imperative of dammen

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin damnum.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɑ̃/

Noun

dam m (plural dams)

  1. (obsolete except in phrases) damage
  2. (religion) damnation

Derived terms

  • au grand dam de

Related terms

  • dommage

Further reading

  • “dam” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

  • AMD

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin damnum.

Noun

dam m (plural dams)

  1. damage

Synonyms

  • daneç

Related terms

  • danâ

Irish

Pronoun

dam (emphatic damsa)

  1. Alternative form of dom (“for/to me”)

Maltese

Verb

dam

  1. dally, stall

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

Noun

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

  1. a pond
  2. a dam (structure)
  3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

References

  • “dam” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?]. Sense 3 is from French jeu de dames.

Noun

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

  1. a pond
  2. a dam (structure)
  3. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

References

  • “dam” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Irish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /daṽ/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *damos (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂-

Noun

dam m (genitive daim)

  1. ox
  2. stag
  3. (by extension) hero, champion
Declension
  • Alternative forms:
    genitive singular, nominative plural: doim
    dative singular: dum, dam
    accusative plural: dumu, damu
Descendants
  • Irish: damh
  • Scottish Gaelic: damh

Noun

dam f

  1. hind, cow (old feminine form of previous)

Etymology 2

Inflected forms of daimid.

Verb

dam

  1. first-person singular present subjunctive conjunct of daimid
  2. Alternative form of daim

·dam

  1. Alternative form of ·daim

Mutation

References

  • “1 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
  • “2 dam” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dam/

Verb

dam

  1. first-person singular future of dać

Noun

dam

  1. genitive plural of dama

Rohingya

Etymology

From Bengali [Term?].

Noun

dam

  1. price

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɑːm/

Noun

dam c

  1. a lady, a woman
  2. (card games) a queen
  3. (chess) a queen

Declension

Synonyms

  • (in chess): drottning

Related terms

See also

References

  • dam in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)

Turkish

Etymology

From Old Turkic [script needed] (tam), from Proto-Turkic *Tām (“roof; wall; hut”), which, according to the controversial Altaic hypothesis, is possibly derived from Proto-Altaic *t`āma (“wall, roof”).

Compare Uyghur تام‎ (tam, “wall”), Korean 담 (dam, “wall”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dɑm/

Noun

dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

  1. roof

References

  • *Tām Starostin, Sergei; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg (2003) Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill

Uzbek

Noun

dam (plural damlar)

  1. bellows

Bookmark
share
WebDictionary.net is an Free English Dictionary containing information about the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, definitions, translations, etymology and more.

Related Words

saddam

fundamentals

fundamental

damn

dame

Browse the English Dictionary

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

License

This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.