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hum

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Pronunciation

hum1 low continuous sound

Etymology

The sound word is inherited from Middle English hummen, also homme,[2][3] probably of imitative origin.[4][5][2][6][7] It is parallel to Middle High German hummen and Dutch hommelen (“to hum”),[5][8][2] and the OED compares dialectal German hummen, summen and brummen, and brommen, all with the same expressive m.[7][9] Partridge notes that Middle Dutch hummelen was originally a frequentative,[10] and Merriam-Webster relates it to hommel (“bumblebee”).[8] Weekley connects it with humblebee.[11] The noun (1469) and the interjection (1548) are formed in the same imitative way.[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make an inarticulate murmur in a pause of speech, from hesitation or embarrassment: about 1374, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.[7][5][2]

Semantic evolution

By the early 15th century the verb was used of the droning of bees and other insects, and later of spinning tops, wheels and machinery.[7][2][4] Singing with closed lips is recorded from about 1485,[7][4] though Barnhart dates it only to 1640.[5] In the 17th century an audience could hum a speaker up or down, to show approval or disapproval (1642–1733).[7] The sound of many voices together (1730, in Thomson; 1726 for Barnhart) led to the colloquial sense of being busy and lively, recorded in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (1884),[7][5][4] perhaps by comparison with a beehive.[4] Weekley notes the American phrase to make things hum.[11] The noun, an inarticulate murmur, appears in the Paston Letters in 1469, and was used of the hum of insects (1601), of distant voices (in Shakespeare's Henry V), of a sound heard in the veins (1839) and of electrical interference (1929).[7][5] Johnson (1755) defined the interjection as a sound of doubt and deliberation, quoting Macbeth.[12] In slang hum has meant to smell unpleasantly, in Australia from 1885;[13][7] the OED suggests the buzzing of flies over rotten matter.[7] In Scotland and parts of England, a cow hummed when lowing softly and a cat when purring.[14] Hum was also a strong ale in the early 17th century, from humming ale, though the OED doubts that it belongs here.[13][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – to murmur in hesitation, in Chaucer.[7][5]
  • c. 1420 – of insects, to make a low continuous sound.[7][2]
  • 1469 – noun, a hesitating murmur.[7][5]
  • c. 1485 – to sing with closed lips.[7]
  • 1548 – interjection, expressing hesitation or doubt.[7]
  • 1601 – noun, the low sound of insects or machinery.[7]
  • 1602 – transitive, to hum a tune.[7]
  • 1730 – to give out the blended sound of many voices; later, to be busy.[7]
  • 1884 – to be busy and active, in Huckleberry Finn.[5][4]
  • 1885 – to smell unpleasantly (Australian slang).[13]
  • 1929 – noun, electrical hum.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make a low, steady, buzzing sound, as bees or machines do: The fridge hummed in the corner.[15][8][7]
  2. To sing with the lips closed, without words: She hummed a lullaby to the baby.[15][8][7]
  3. To make a murmuring sound of hesitation, as in hum and haw, to be slow to decide.[15][7][9]
  4. (informal) To be full of busy activity: By noon the market was humming.[15][7]
  5. (British slang) To smell unpleasant.[15][7]

Noun

  1. A low, steady sound, like that of bees or of machinery.[8][7]
  2. The blended, distant noise of voices or traffic: the hum of the city.[8][7]
  3. (electronics) Unwanted low-frequency noise from an alternating current, heard in sound equipment.[7]
  4. An inarticulate murmur of hesitation, doubt or approval.[8][7]

Interjection

  1. Expressing hesitation, doubt or mild disagreement.[8][7][12]

Word family

  • hummable
  • hummer
  • underhum
  • hummingbird
  • ho-hum

hum2 hoax, humbug

Etymology

The slang word for a hoax is short for humbug, both as a noun and as a verb.[7][9][8][16][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To trick or hoax: Green's dictionary finds humming, hoaxing, in Edmund Hickeringill about 1680;[13] the OED's first quotation for both noun and verb is of 1751.[7]

Semantic evolution

Both noun and verb are now archaic,[9] but the verb survived in dialect use in Scotland and England for to cheat or deceive.[14][9] In Australian slang from 1918–19 to hum is to borrow without meaning to return, and a hum is a scrounger.[7][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1680 – humming, hoaxing.[13]
  • 1751 – noun, a hoax; verb, to hoax.[7]
  • 1918 – verb, to scrounge (Australian slang).[7]
  • 1919 – noun, a scrounger (Australian slang).[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (archaic slang) A hoax or sham.[9][7][8]
  2. (Australian slang) A persistent borrower; a scrounger.[7][9]

Verb

  1. (archaic slang) To trick or deceive.[9][7][8]
  2. (Australian slang) To scrounge or cadge.[7][9]

Usage notes

In physical geography a hum is a small, steep, roughly conical hill of karst country, recorded from 1921 and taken from a Serbo-Croatian word for a hill.[7][9][8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ 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 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  16. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.