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mum

Etymology and origin of the English word mum

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Mum, silent, and mum, mother, are different words, each imitating a sound made with the lips.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

mum1 silent

Confidence
Established
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
1377
From
Middle English mom

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mom, mum, probably imitating an inarticulate sound made with closed lips,[2][5][6] compare Middle Low German mummen and Dutch mommen.[6][3] It is related to mumble and mumps.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

An inarticulate sound made with closed lips, showing inability or unwillingness to speak: 1377 in the OED, before 1376 in Piers Plowman according to Barnhart.[7][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant to make silent from about 1400 and to be silent from the mid-15th century.[2] The adjective, silent or secret, is from 1521.[7][5] The interjection “hush!” is from the 1560s.[2][5] Mum's the word is recorded by 1704 in Etymonline and Barnhart.[2][5] It and keep mum are associated with Second World War warnings about careless talk, but according to Word Origins both phrases go back to the early 16th century.[1]

Timeline

  • 1377 – a sound with closed lips.[7]
  • 1521 – adjective, silent.[7][5]
  • 1560s – interjection, hush.[2]
  • 1704 – mum's the word.[2][5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Silent, saying nothing: keep mum.

Interjection

  1. Be quiet! Mum's the word.

mum2 mother

Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1823

Etymology

Mum, mother, is a pet word short for mummy,[2][3] partly a variant of mam.[3] Like ma and mama, it goes back to the first sounds made by babies.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mother: 1823 in Etymonline, the mid-17th century in SOED.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It is chiefly British; the American form is mom.[8][1] In British sociology it was used from 1957 for the working-class mother as an influence on her children.[2] It was also sometimes a vulgar form of madam or ma'am.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1823 – mother.[2]
  • 1957 – in sociology.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (chiefly British, informal) mother.

Usage notes

Mum is also short for chrysanthemum, in gardeners' jargon by 1915.[2][3] Mum, a kind of beer first brewed in Brunswick, from German Mumme, is a different word from the 17th century,[3][6] as is the verb mum, to act in a mummers' play.[9][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Cite this entry

“Mum.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/mum. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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