# mum
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mʌm/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -ʌm

### Etymology 1

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

#### Alternative forms

* mam
* mom, Mom (US)
* Mum

#### Noun

mum (plural mums)
* (Commonwealth, Ireland, informal) Mother.
** 1987, Kerry Cue, Hang On To Your Horses Doovers, page 5:From the Marvel Mixmaster to the Miracle Microwave, every time a new-fangled gadget has lobbed into the Aussie kitchen, Aussie mums have changed their cooking styles accordingly.
** 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.

##### 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.

##### Synonyms

* See also Thesaurus:mother

##### Derived terms

* ballet mum
* bank of mum and dad
* be mum
* gymslip mum
* mum-in-law
* mum jeans
* queen mum
* soccer mum
* tiger mum
* wine mum
* your mum

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

Abbreviation of chrysanthemum.

#### Alternative forms

* 'mum

#### Noun

mum (plural mums)
* (chiefly US) A chrysanthemum.
** 1996, David Foster Wallace, “Democracy and Commerce at the US Open”, in Both Flesh And Not, Penguin, published 2013, page 139:I don't know whether that's true or whether New Yorkers are being enjoined from watering the mums in their window boxes or whatever, but I do know that there hasn't been one rain-delay in the whole tournament so far […] .
* (US, originally Texas) A decoration made originally of a real chrysanthemum but now usually an artificial (silk) flower combined with ribbons and marked with such indicators as the wearer's name, school name, the year, and so on; traditionally worn by girls at high school homecoming celebrations.

### 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)
* (colloquial or archaic) Silent.
** c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]:The citizens are mum, and speak not a word.
** 2021 November 2, Jim Tankersley, Katie Rogers, Lisa Friedman, quoting Joe Biden, “With Methane and Forest Deals, Climate Summit Offers Hope After Gloomy Start”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:[Vladimir Putin] has serious climate problems. And he has been mum on his willingness to do anything.
* (colloquial) Secret.
** 1922, Robert Welles Ritchie, Dust of the Desert‎, page 149:“Come here, friend,” sternly from the doctor. “Now I give you the way inside if you’ll promise to keep it mum.”

##### Derived terms

* mum's the word

#### Interjection

mum
* stop speaking!, stop talking!, hush!
** 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:Mum, then, and no more.
** 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 31, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 143:Ahab has that that’s bloody on his mind. But, mum; he comes this way.

#### Verb

mum (third-person singular simple present mums, present participle mumming, simple past and past participle mummed)
* To act in a pantomime or dumb show.
* (UK, slang, obsolete, transitive) To silence.
** 1857, Hidden Links; Or the Schoolfellows. A Tale, volume 2, page 233:"Well, Sal, you mum your dubber pretty generally, but when you do slacken your glib you may as well do it civilly."

##### Derived terms

* mummer
* mummery

#### Noun

mum (uncountable)
* (obsolete) Silence.
** 1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “[The Third Part of Hudibras]. Canto II.”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Robert Horne, […], published 1679, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 277:Entrust it under solemn Vows / Of Mum and Silence, […]

### Etymology 4

From German Mumme.

#### Noun

mum (uncountable)
* A type of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.
** 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum.

### Etymology 5

A variant of ma'am.

#### Noun

mum (plural mums)
* (informal, dated) Alternative spelling of ma'am
** 1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Eighth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, 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 only dis-pense vith his—might I wenter to say the vurd?” / “What word Mr. Weller?” said the housekeeper, blushing slightly. / “Petticuts, mum,” returned that gentleman, laying his hand upon the garments of his grandson. “If my son Samivel, mum, vould only dis-pense vith these here, you’d see such a alteration in his appearance, as the imagination can’t depicter.”
** 1847 December, Acton Bell [pseudonym; Anne Brontë], “The Cottagers”, in Agnes Grey. […], London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC, page 176:[H]e axed if wer stock o' coals was nearly done. I telled him it was, an' we was ill set to get more—but you know mum I didn't think o' him helping us—but howsever, he sent us a sack o' coals next day; […]
** 1865 May 15 – 1866 January 1, Anthony Trollope, “William Belton Does Not Go Out Hunting”, in The Belton Estate. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published December 1865 (indicated as 1866), →OCLC, pages 220–221:"A telegruff message, mum, for Mr. William," said the maid, looking at her mistress with eyes opened wide, as she handed the important bit of paper to her master.
** 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XI, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 93:Then she took off the hank and looked me straight in the face, but very pleasant, and says: / “Come, now—what’s your real name? / “Wh-what, mum?” / “What’ your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob?—or what is it?”

### Anagrams

* MMU, umm

## Abinomn
### Noun

mum
* eeltail catfish

## Crimean Tatar

Other scripts :
| Cyrillic | мум |
| Roman | |

### Etymology

From Persian موم (mum).

### Noun

mum
* wax
    Synonym: balavuz

#### Declension
### References

* “mum”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

## Forak
### Noun

mum
* breast

### Further reading

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

## Mokilese
### Verb

mum
* (stative) to be tasty

#### Derived terms

* jamum

## Turkish
### Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish موم (mum, “candle”), itself from Persian موم (mum).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /mum/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

mum (definite accusative mumu, plural mumlar)
* candle

#### Declension

singular
plural
nominative
mum
mumlar
definite accusative
mumu
mumları
dative
muma
mumlara
locative
mumda
mumlarda
ablative
mumdan
mumlardan
genitive
mumun
mumların
Possessive forms
nominative
singular
plural
1st singular
mumum
mumlarım
2nd singular
mumun
mumların
3rd singular
mumu
mumları
1st plural
mumumuz
mumlarımız
2nd plural
mumunuz
mumlarınız
3rd plural
mumları
mumları
definite accusative
singular
plural
1st singular
mumumu
mumlarımı
2nd singular
mumunu
mumlarını
3rd singular
mumunu
mumlarını
1st plural
mumumuzu
mumlarımızı
2nd plural
mumunuzu
mumlarınızı
3rd plural
mumlarını
mumlarını
dative
singular
plural
1st singular
mumuma
mumlarıma
2nd singular
mumuna
mumlarına
3rd singular
mumuna
mumlarına
1st plural
mumumuza
mumlarımıza
2nd plural
mumunuza
mumlarınıza
3rd plural
mumlarına
mumlarına
locative
singular
plural
1st singular
mumumda
mumlarımda
2nd singular
mumunda
mumlarında
3rd singular
mumunda
mumlarında
1st plural
mumumuzda
mumlarımızda
2nd plural
mumunuzda
mumlarınızda
3rd plural
mumlarında
mumlarında
ablative
singular
plural
1st singular
mumumdan
mumlarımdan
2nd singular
mumundan
mumlarından
3rd singular
mumundan
mumlarından
1st plural
mumumuzdan
mumlarımızdan
2nd plural
mumunuzdan
mumlarınızdan
3rd plural
mumlarından
mumlarından
genitive
singular
plural
1st singular
mumumun
mumlarımın
2nd singular
mumunun
mumlarının
3rd singular
mumunun
mumlarının
1st plural
mumumuzun
mumlarımızın
2nd plural
mumunuzun
mumlarınızın
3rd plural
mumlarının
mumlarının :

#### Derived terms

* mumcu
* mumluk

## Woiwurrung
### Noun

mum
* bottom
* anus

### References

* 1 2 Australian Aboriginal Words in English - Their Origin and Meaning, 1990, pg209

## Zazaki
### Noun

mum
* candle