cum

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kʌm/, /kʊm/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cum (“with”),^[2][3][4] related to the prefix com-,^[2] abstracted from Latin phrases such as cum privilegio, with privilege (1589 in English use).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As part of Latin phrases used in English: 1589;^[3][2] the SOED records it from late Middle English in the names of combined parishes, such as Chorlton-cum-Hardy.^[5]

Semantic evolution

As an English preposition joining two nouns, as in a kitchen-cum-dining room, it is from about 1869–71.^[4][2] Latin phrases with cum in English include cum laude, with praise, and cum grano salis, with a grain of salt.^[6]

Timeline

• 1589 – cum privilegio.^[3]
• c. 1869 – the English preposition.^[4]

Modern meaning

Preposition

1. Together with; combined with, used between two nouns: a bedroom-cum-study.

Related words

• com-
• con-
• cum laude

Usage notes

The vulgar slang cum, to ejaculate or semen, is a different word: a variant spelling of come in its sexual sense, recorded by 1973 and apparently from pornographic writing; it has no connection with the Latin preposition.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com