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bum

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English has two main words spelled bum: the buttocks, of unknown origin, and the American word for a tramp or loafer, probably from bummer.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

bum1 buttocks

Etymology

The buttocks is inherited from Middle English bom, of uncertain origin.[5][6][7][3] The OED suggests that it may be imitative or expressive, comparing other words of similar sound that mean a rounded swelling, such as bump;[5][8] Cresswell also notes the many words for roundness that begin with the same sound.[2] The OED rejects the idea that it is a reduced form of bottom, on phonological and chronological grounds.[5] Barnhart suggests Middle Dutch bonne (“bung”),[9] and Johnson (1755) gave bomme as its source.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person's buttocks: a1387, in John Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon, in a passage on piles.[5][1][8]

Semantic evolution

Until around the 18th century bum was not a rude word: Shakespeare used it, and a surgical treatise could speak of the bums of hens.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it plainly as "the part on which we sit".[10] A bailiff who made arrests was called a bum (1659) or bum-bailiff, so called because he came up behind the debtor;[5][3][11] in Scots bum was used of a lazy, dirty person from 1540.[12][3] The word is now chiefly British informal,[6][13] with the interjection bum! recorded from 1912[5] and bums on seats, paying spectators, from 1973.[5][6]

Timeline

  • a1387 – the buttocks.[5]
  • 1540 – (Scots) a lazy, dirty person.[12]
  • 1588 – verb, to make something bulge out (obsolete).[5]
  • 1659 – a bailiff.[5]
  • 1912 – interjection, expressing annoyance.[5]
  • 1949 – the seat of a pair of trousers.[5]
  • 1973 – bums on seats.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (chiefly British, informal) The buttocks; the bottom: He sat on his bum on the wet grass.
  2. (historical) A bailiff; a bum-bailiff.

Word family

  • bumbag
  • bum-bailiff
  • bumf

bum2 tramp, loafer

Etymology

The tramp is probably shortened, from English bummer (“loafer, idle person”) (1855),[6][14][3][8] which is apparently from German Bummler (“vagrant, idler”),[5][9][1] from bummeln (“to loaf, saunter”).[5][8][1] The verb is apparently a back-formation from bummer, and the OED takes the noun from the verb.[5] The earliest uses are in the speech of German immigrants in the United States, and bummer was common in the Union army in the Civil War.[8][12] Barnhart thinks the earlier Scots bum, a lazy dirty person, may have fused with it,[12][8] which would explain why the verb and adjective are recorded before the noun.[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To loaf, to pass one's time idly: 1857;[5] the noun, a homeless person who lives by begging, 1864, in the Gold Hill News of Nevada.[5][9][8] The adjective, of poor quality, is dated 1859 by Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,[12][6] 1878 by the OED.[5]

Semantic evolution

In the American Civil War a bummer was a straggler or a soldier who left the ranks to forage and plunder.[5][8] The verb soon meant to beg or cadge (1863), as in bum a ride,[5][6][8] and to travel as a tramp, or without paying a fare (1877).[5] The noun came to mean any worthless or lazy person (1882),[5] and later someone devoted to a pastime, as in ski bum or beach bum.[6][13] The adjective bum, bad or inferior, gave bum steer, bad advice (1901),[8][12] and bum rap.[5] The verb bum (out), to disappoint or depress, dates from about 1970,[5][8] after bummer "a bad experience" (1967).[5][8]

Timeline

  • 1855 – bummer, a loafer.[5][8]
  • 1857 – verb, to loaf.[5]
  • 1863 – verb, to beg, cadge.[5][8]
  • 1864 – noun, a tramp or vagrant.[5][9]
  • 1878 – adjective, of poor quality.[5]
  • 1882 – a worthless person.[5]
  • 1901 – bum steer.[8]
  • 1970 – verb, to depress, disappoint.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (chiefly North America) A tramp or vagrant; a homeless person who begs.
  2. (chiefly North America) A lazy or worthless person; a loafer.
  3. (informal) A person who spends much time on a pastime: a surf bum.

Verb

  1. (informal) To get by begging; to cadge: Can I bum a pen off you?
  2. (informal) To spend time idly, or travel around without a plan; often with around.
  3. (informal, chiefly North America) To make someone feel disappointed or depressed; usually with out.

Adjective

  1. (informal) Of poor quality; bad or wrong: a bum deal.
  2. (informal, chiefly North America) Of a part of the body, injured or not working properly.

Word family

  • bummer
  • bum steer
  • bum rap
  • bum's rush

Usage notes

Several other words of this spelling are rare or dialectal: the Scots verb bum, to hum or drone (15th century), imitative like boom,[6][3][5] and an obsolete verb bum, to beat or thump (1581).[6][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  2. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt