oom

oom

See also: Oom, OOM, -oom, -óom, óom, oöm, and 오옴

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans oom. Doublet of eam and ohm.

Pronunciation

  • (General South African) IPA(key): /ʊəm/
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ʊm/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʊəm, -ʊm

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, published 1998, page 73:
      He raised his glass. ‘Here's to you, Oom Ben,’ he said. ‘Give them hell.’

See also

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch oom, from Middle Dutch oom, from Old Dutch *ōm, from Proto-Germanic *awahaimaz (maternal uncle).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /oəm/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

oom (plural ooms, diminutive oompie)

  1. uncle

Descendants

  • English: oom

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch oom, from Old Dutch *ōm, from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim (maternal uncle).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /oːm/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: oom
  • Rhymes: -oːm

Noun

oom m (plural ooms, diminutive oompje n)

  1. uncle
    Synonym: (Belgium) nonkel

Usage notes

  • The form ome is sometimes used in combination with names; e.g. ome Bob translates to uncle Bob. But it is never encountered on its own: in the phrase ik heb een oom ("I have an uncle"), the form ome cannot be used instead of oom. An exception is the phrase hoge ome.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: oom
    • English: oom
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: om
  • Negerhollands: noom, nom, noem
    • Virgin Islands Creole: nom, noom (dated)
  • Ambonese Malay: om
  • Indonesian: om
  • Papiamentu: , òn, òmpi (from the diminutive), mo (Aruba), òm (Aruba), omo (Aruba), oom
  • Sranan Tongo: omu
  • West Frisian: omme, omke

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *ōm, from Proto-West Germanic *auhaim (maternal uncle).

Noun

ôom m

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

Inflection

Strong masculine noun
singular plural
nominative ôom ôme
accusative ôom ôme
genitive ôoms ôme
dative ôme ômen

Derived terms

  • halfoom
  • oomskint
  • oomssone
  • oudeoom
  • overoom
  • voloom

Descendants

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): /ɔːm/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

oom

  1. knee

Yucatec Maya

Alternative forms

  • (Campeche): oon

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /oːŋ/

Noun

oom

  1. avocado