English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English um-, umbe-, embe-, from Old English ymb-, ymbe- (around), from Proto-West Germanic *umbi-, from Proto-Germanic *umbi (around, about, by, near), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (round about, around). Cognate with Dutch om- (around), German um- (around), Latin amb- (around, about), Latin ambi- (both), Ancient Greek ἀμφί (amphí, around, about), Sanskrit अभि (abhi, against, about). More at umbe.

Prefix edit

um-

  1. (rare, usually no longer productive, primarily in dialects, chiefly Scotland) Prefix meaning around, about.

Derived terms edit

Anagrams edit

Faroese edit

Etymology edit

From the preposition um.

Prefix edit

um-

  1. over, about, around

Derived terms edit

German edit

Etymology edit

From Middle High German um-, umb-, umme-, umbe-, from Old High German umbi- (around), from Proto-West Germanic *umbi-, from Proto-Germanic *umbi- (around), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (by, near, around). Cognate with English um-, Dutch om-, Swedish om-, Icelandic um-.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ʊm/, [ʔʊm]
  • (file)

Prefix edit

um- (separable or inseparable)

  1. round, round about
  2. repeatedly, over again, re-
  3. in another way
  4. to the ground, down, over

Usage notes edit

When this prefix is separable, the stress falls on the prefix: ˈumbiegen, ˈumbilden, ˈumdeuten, ˈumbenennen. When inseparable, the stress falls on the root: umˈflattern, umˈfluten, umˈgaukeln, umˈmauern, umˈgeben. The prefix is only unstressed/inseparable when referring to the first meaning. Sometimes this creates contrasting words with opposite meaning, only distinguished in stress and therefore undistinguishable in writing, e.g. umˈfahren (drive around something), ˈumfahren (drive something over).

Derived terms edit

Northern Ndebele edit

Etymology 1 edit

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2 edit

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Southern Ndebele edit

Etymology 1 edit

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2 edit

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Swazi edit

Etymology 1 edit

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2 edit

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Tagalog edit

Etymology edit

See -um-.

Pronunciation edit

Prefix edit

um- (Baybayin spelling ᜂᜋ᜔)

  1. prefix form of -um- for verbs starting with a vowel
    Umulan kanina.
    It rained a while ago.
    Umalis na ako.
    I already left.

See also edit

Xhosa edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Proto-Bantu *jʊ̀-mʊ̀-.

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 1 noun prefix.

Etymology 2 edit

From Proto-Bantu *gʊ́-mʊ̀-.

Prefix edit

um-

  1. Class 3 noun prefix.

Zulu edit

Etymology 1 edit

Prefix edit

úm-

  1. Class 1 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

Etymology 2 edit

Prefix edit

úm-

  1. Class 3 noun prefix; form of umu- used before stems of more than one syllable.

References edit