Word
mum
US/ˈməm/
UK/mˈʌm/
Definition
adj. staying quiet or keeping a secret.
adj. remaining silent or refractive to disclosure; typically used in the fixed phrase 'mum's the word'.
Examples
“I need to call my mum to say happy birthday.”
“After the school play finished, the young boy ran straight to his mum for a hug.”
“While formal documents require the term 'mother', most children and adults in the UK refer to their female parent as 'mum' in daily conversation.”
Examples
simple
“I need to call my mum to say happy birthday.”
contextual
“After the school play finished, the young boy ran straight to his mum for a hug.”
complex
“While formal documents require the term 'mother', most children and adults in the UK refer to their female parent as 'mum' in daily conversation.”
Usage
Commonly follows the verb 'keep'.
Etymology
Alternative form of mam, or an abbreviation of mummy. Compare mom, mama.
Abbreviation of chrysanthemum.
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”).
From German Mumme.
A variant of ma'am.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word family
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Scan code
englishreference.com/q/mum