am

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

Translingual

Symbol

am

1. (metrology) Symbol for attometer (attometre), an SI unit of length equal to 10⁻¹⁸ meters (metres).
2. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Amharic.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English am, em, from Old English eam, eom (“am”), from Proto-West Germanic *im, from Proto-Germanic *immi, *izmi (“am”, form of the verb *wesaną (“to be; dwell”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“I am, I exist”).

Cognate with Old Norse em (Old Swedish æm (“am”)), Gothic 𐌹𐌼 (im, “am”), Ancient Greek εἰμῐ́ (eimí, “am”), Old Armenian եմ (em, “am”), Albanian jam (“am”).

Pronunciation

• (stressed form) IPA^(key): /æm/
  • (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [ẽə̯̃m], [ɛ̃ə̯̃m]
• • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [am], [æm]
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): [æ̝m], [ɛm], [e̞m]
• (unstressed form) IPA^(key): /əm/
• Rhymes: -æm

Verb

am

1. first-person singular present indicative of be
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Marsha, I am in the kitchen!

Derived terms

See also

Contraction

am

1. (informal or dialectal) Contraction of I am.

Etymology 2

Adverb

am (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of a.m.

Anagrams

• -ma-, M&A, M.A., MA, Ma, ma

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• amu

Etymology

The verb as a whole derives from forms of the Latin habeō, habēre. The first-person present singular form am(u), along with some other inflected forms, may have been analogical constructions (in this case, from an old form (aemu) of first-person plural (now avem)), or influenced by nearby languages. Compare Romanian avea, am; cf. also Albanian kam (“to have”). The third-person singular present indicative, ari, may have derived from Latin haberet.

Verb

am first-singular present indicative (third-person singular present indicative ari or are, imperfect aveam, simple perfect avui, past participle avutã)

1. to have
2. to own
3. (auxiliary, with past participles) to have ...

Related terms

• aveari / aveare
• avut
• avutsãscu

Azerbaijani

Etymology 1

From Proto-Turkic *(i)am (“vulva”). Related to amcıq with the same sense and derived from the same root.

Pronunciation

Noun

am (definite accusative amı, plural amlar)

1. (vulgar) cunt

   Synonyms: amcıq, dıllaq, dındıq

Declension

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic عَام (ʕām).

Noun

am (definite accusative amı, plural amlar)

1. (Classical Azerbaijani) year

   Synonyms: il, sal, sənə

Declension

Further reading

• “am” in Obastan.com.

Baba Malay

Etymology

From Hokkien 飲／饮 (ám).

Noun

am

1. rice water

Further reading

• Baba Malay Dictionary

Chuukese

Pronoun

am

1. First-person plural exclusive pronoun; us (exclusive)

See also

Fula

Alternative forms

• an

Etymology

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

Determiner

am (singular)

1. (possessive) my

   suudu am

   my house

Usage notes

• Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular). However, an is more common in Pular.

Garo

Etymology

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

Noun

am

1. mat

Derived terms

• amipang
• ampatchi

References

• Burling, R. (2003) The Language of the Modhupur Mandi (Garo) Vol. II: The Lexicon‎^[3], Bangladesh: University of Michigan, page 35
• Mason, M.C. (1904) , English-Garo Dictionary, Mittal Publications, New Delhi, India
• Garo-Hindi-English Learners' Dictionary, North-Eastern Hill University Publications, Shillong

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /am/
• Rhymes: -am

Contraction

am

1. (+ adjective ending with -en + masculine or neuter noun) an + dem, at the, on the

   am Ende ― at the end

   am Rande ― on the margin(s)

   am Leben ― alive

2. (+ adjective ending with -en + masculine or neuter noun) auf + dem, on the, at the

   am Berg ― on the mountain

   am Fest ― at the festival

   am Schirm ― on the screen

3. Forms the superlative in adverbial and predicate use.

   am schnellsten ― fastest

   am schwächsten ― weakest

   am wichtigsten ― most important

Further reading

• “am” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Etymology

Abbreviation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒmuːɟ]

Adverb

am

1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of amúgy (“otherwise, anyway; by the way”).

See also

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay am, from Classical Malay عام (am), from Arabic عَامّ (ʕāmm).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈam/
• Rhymes: -am, -m
• Hyphenation: am

Adjective

am

1. common, general.

   Synonyms: umum, awam

2. common (not expert).

Derived terms

References

Further reading

• “am” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Etymology 1

From Old Irish amm, from Proto-Celtic *ammen-, *amo-, probably ultimately from the root of aimser (“point in time”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /aumˠ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /ɑːmˠ/, /amˠ/
• (Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /amˠ/

Noun

am m (genitive singular ama, nominative plural amanna or amanta)

1. time

Declension

Alternative declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• dom, dom'

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əmˠ/

Contraction

am (triggers lenition)

1. (colloquial, dialectal) Contraction of do mo (“to/for my”).

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• im, 'mo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əmˠ/

Contraction

am (triggers lenition)

1. (colloquial, dialectal) Contraction of i mo (“in my”).

Mutation

References

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “am”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904) “am”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 25
• “am”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Kofyar

Etymology

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

Noun

am

1. water

References

• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:

  […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:

  (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Kfy. am [Ntg. 1967, 1], […]

Lagwan

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Chadic *ymn.

Noun

am

1. water

References

• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:

  […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:

  (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Lgn. a̲m [Mch.] = àm (pl.) [Lks.] = ˀàm [Bouny] = ˀàm [Bouny 1975 MS, 5, #58], Bdm. amaii "water", amai "rain" [Talbot 1911, 252] […]

Luxembourgish

Contraction

am

1. contraction of an + dem; in the

Malalí

Noun

am

1. earth

References

• Robert Gordon Latham, Elements of Comparative Philology
• Martius, Beiträge zur Ethnographie und Sprachenkunde Brasiliens

Megleno-Romanian

Etymology

From Latin habeo.

Verb

am

1. I have.

Related terms

• veari / veri

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English eam, eom, from Proto-West Germanic *im, from Proto-Germanic *immi, first-person singular of *wesaną.

Alternative forms

• ame, em

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /am/, /ɛm/

Verb

am

1. first-person singular present indicative of been

Usage notes

• More common than be as a first-person singular form.

Descendants

• English: am
• Scots: am
• Yola: aam, am

Etymology 2

Pronoun

am

1. Alternative form of hem (“them”)

Middle Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *ambi (compare Old Irish imb), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi. Cognate with Latin ambi-, Sanskrit अभि (abhí, “towards, over, upon”), Old Persian 𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎹 (a-b-i-y /⁠abiy⁠/, “towards, against, upon”), Old High German umbi, Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “about, around”) and the first part of Old Armenian ամբ-ողջ (amb-ołǰ, “whole”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /am/

Preposition

am (triggers lenition)

1. about
2. for, on account of
3. concerning, as regards

Inflection

• first-person singular: amdanaf
• second-person singular: amdanat
• third-person singular masculine: amdanaw, ymdanaw, ymdanw
• third-person singular feminine: amdanei

Derived terms

• am pen (“upon”)
• gwiscaw am (“to put on (clothes etc.)”)
• y am (“off; apart from”)

Mwaghavul

Etymology

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

Noun

àm

1. water

References

• Zygmunt Frajzyngier, A Grammar of Mupun (1993)
• Václav Blažek, A Lexicostatistical comparison of Omotic languages, in In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology, page 122
• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:

  […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:

  (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Sura àm "Wasser, Flüssigkeit" [Jng. 1963, 58], Mpn. àm [Frj. 1991, 3], […]

Ngas

Etymology

Related to Gerka ram (“water”).

Noun

am

1. water
2. rain

References

• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:

  […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:

  (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Angas am "1. water, 2. rain" [Ormsby 1914, 314-315] = am "water (to drink of wash with)" [Flk. 1915, 143] = […]

Nigerian Pidgin

Pronoun

am

1. him/her/it

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

am

1. imperative of amme

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

am

1. imperative of amme

Old English

Verb

am

1. (Northumbrian) first-person singular present indicative of wesan

References

1. 17, Skeat, Walter Wiliams 'The Gospel according to Saint Luke: in Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian versions synoptically'

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *emmi, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁esmi, from *h₁es- (“to be”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /am/

Verb

am

1. first-person singular present indicative of is

Pero

Noun

ám

1. water

References

• Zygmunt Frajzyngier, A grammar of Pero (1989)

Pumpokol

Noun

am

1. mother

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /am/
• Rhymes: -am

Etymology 1

Inflected form of avea. Probably an analogical construction based on the old first-person plural or perhaps influenced by similar forms in other languages. Compare Aromanian am(u); cf. also Albanian kam (“I have”).

Verb

am

1. first-person singular present indicative of avea

   (I) have

2. first-person singular present subjunctive of avea

Etymology 2

From old Romanian amu, presumably from an earlier (proto-) Romanian form aemu (attested in Aromanian), from Latin habēmus. The original first-person singular in proto-Romanian was aibu, from Latin habeō, but was changed to am(u) by analogy with the first-person plural. The form with -v- (avem) in the present form of the verb's main conjugation (as opposed to its use in this form as an auxiliary verb) may have been remade by analogy with avut; am may also be seen as a reduced, clitic form of avem. See also ați, which has a parallel development.

Verb

am

1. (eu) am (modal auxiliary, first-person singular form of avea, used with past participles to form perfect compus tenses)

   (I) have...

2. (noi) am (modal auxiliary, first-person plural form of avea, used with past participles to form perfect compus tenses)

   (we) have...

Related terms

• ai
• a
• ați
• au

Etymology 3

Presumably from a Vulgar Latin *eamus, from Latin habēbāmus.

Verb

am

1. (noi) am (modal auxiliary, first-person plural form of avea, used with infinitives to form conditional tenses)

   (we) would

Related terms

• aș
• ai
• ar
• ați

References

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Article

am

1. inflection of an (“the”):
   1. nominative singular masculine preceding f-
   2. nominative singular masculine preceding b-, m-, p-

Declension

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Determiner

am

1. Form of an (“their”) used before the consonants b-, f-, m- or p-.

See also

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Preposition

am (+ dative, no mutation)

1. Form of an (“in”) used before the consonants b-, f-, m- or p-.

Synonyms

• ann am

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Particle

am

1. Form of an (interrogative particle) used before the consonants b-, f-, m- or p-.

Verb

am

1. Form of an (present interrogative copula) used before the consonants b-, f-, m- or p-.

References

• Colin Mark (2003) The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, pages 32-33

Spanish

Adverb

am

1. a.m. (before noon)

   Antonym: pm

Sumerian

Romanization

am

1. Romanization of 𒄠 (am)

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 飲／饮 (ám, “rice soup”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈʔam/ [ˈʔam]
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: am

Noun

am (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜋ᜔)

1. Alternative form of aam

Anagrams

• Ma., Ma, ma, ma-

Tangale

Noun

am

1. water

References

• Takács, Gábor (2007) Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian, volume 3, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 201, →ISBN:

  […] we should carefully distinguish the following Ch. roots from AA *m-ˀ "water" [GT]:

  (1) Ch. *h-m "water" [GT]: WCh. *hama [Stl.]: AS *ham (Gmy. *hām) [GT 2004, 153] = *am [Stl. 1977] = *ham [Dlg.] = *ham [Stl. 1987]: […] Tng. am [Jng.], […]

• Václav Blažek, A Lexicostatistical comparison of Omotic languages, in In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology, page 122

Tarifit

Preposition

am (Tifinagh spelling ⴰⵎ)

1. like

   Synonym: amecnaw

   netta d ameḥḍar am necc ― He is a student like me.

Tày

Pronunciation

• (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [ʔaːm˧˥]
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [ʔaːm˦]

Adjective

am

1. overly soft and sticky from having too much water; pasty; viscid; clammy; soggy

   mỏ khảu bặng chảo am ― the rice in the pot is overly soft like soup

References

• Hoàng Văn Ma, Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Chí (2006) Từ điển Tày-Nùng-Việt [Tay-Nung-Vietnamese dictionary] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Từ điển Bách khoa Hà Nội
• Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎^[5][6] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
• Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎^[7] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish آم, from Proto-Turkic *am (“vulva”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑm/
• Hyphenation: am
• Rhymes: -ɑm

Noun

am (definite accusative amı, plural amlar)

1. (vulgar) cunt (genitalia)

Declension

See also

• amcık

Tzeltal

Noun

am

1. spider

Uspanteco

Noun

am

1. spider

References

• Leamos uspanteco: Kawitojtak kibꞌ chi rilic jwich wuj laj tzijbꞌal ajtilmit: En uspanteco y español‎^[8] (overall work in Spanish and Uspanteco), ILV, 1998, page 1

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from 庵.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔaːm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔaːm˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔaːm˧˧]

Noun

(classifier cái) am

1. small Buddhist temple, small pagoda, hermitage, secluded hut, cottage

Anagrams

• ma

War-Jaintia

Noun

am

1. water

References

• Jeremy Brightbill, Amy Kim, Seung Kim, The War-Jaintia in Bangladesh: a sociolinguistic survey, SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2007-013: 153, page 58

Welsh

Alternative forms

• (about; for): amdan

Etymology

From Middle Welsh am, from Old Welsh im, from Proto-Celtic *ambi (compare Old Irish imb), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi.

Cognate with Latin ambi-, Sanskrit अभि (abhí, “towards, over, upon”), Old Persian 𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎹 (a-b-i-y /⁠abiy⁠/, “towards, against, upon”), Old High German umbi, Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, “about, around”) and the first part of Old Armenian ամբ-ողջ (amb-ołǰ, “whole”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /am/

Preposition

am (triggers soft mutation)

1. (with most verbs) about, concerning

   Synonyms: parthed, ynghylch, ynglŷn â

2. (with certain verbs) for, in exchange for
3. (time) at
4. (in exclamations) what a (+noun), how (+adjective)

   Am lanastr! ― What a mess!

   Am annheg! ― How unfair!

Inflection

Derived terms

Conjunction

am

1. because (followed by fod or a “that”-clause)

Synonyms

• achos
• oherwydd

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈam/

Verb

am

1. (transitive) to eat

Usage notes

The verb am ("to eat") takes the same verbal prefixes that directional verbs do.

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• a

References

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[9], Pacific linguistics

Yola

Verb

am

1. Alternative form of aam

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 106

Yucatec Maya

Etymology

From Proto-Mayan *Am.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈam]

Noun

am (plural amoʼob)

1. spider

References

• Beltrán de Santa Rosa María, Pedro (1746) Arte de el idioma maya reducido a succintas reglas, y semilexicon yucateco (in Spanish), Mexico: Por la Biuda de D. Joseph Bernardo de Hogal, page 176: “Araña otra. Am. .... Eſta mata. ― Another spider. Am. .... This one kills.”
• Montgomery, John (2004) Maya-English, English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook, New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., →ISBN, page 50