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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

fum en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /fʌm/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To play upon a fiddle.
    • Follow me, and fum as you go. c. 1604, Thomas Dekker, John Webster, Westward Ho:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fummed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
fummed Tense=Past lexicographic
fumming Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
fums Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
Source: en.wiktionary, “fum” (verb), dump 20260902, contributors via the page history. Text licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

fum en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /fʌm/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 鳳 /凤.

Meanings

  1. (obsolete) The fenghuang, a mythological Chinese bird.
    • The fum is a bird said to be found in no part of the world but China. It is described as of most admirable beauty, and if at any time absent, or long unseen, it is regarded as an omen of some misfortune to the royal family. 1823, Richard Sickelmore, The history of Brighton from the earliest period to the present time:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
fung alternative lexicographic
feng alternative lexicographic
fums Number=Plur lexicographic
fung-hwang alternative lexicographic

Relateds

fee-fi-fo-fum (etymologically unrelated terms containing "fum") · fee-faw-fum (etymologically unrelated terms containing "fum")