foam English · revision 39605

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, Epinal Glossary|origins=gem-pro *faimaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈfəʊ̯m/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈfɔʊ̯m/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|fom]], [[m|enm|fome]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|fām|t=foam, froth; the sea]],^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) [[inh|gem-pro|*faimaz]];^(Kroonen 2013)^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad and Etymonline give the West Germanic form [[gmw-pro|*faimo-]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[goh|feim]] (modern [[m|de|Feim]])^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966) and to [[no|feim|t=thin layer, coating]].^(Kroonen 2013)^(MWU 2024) Outside Germanic it has cognates in [[sa|फेन|tr=phéna|t=foam]], [[cu|пѣна|tr=pěna|t=foam]], [[lt|spáinė|t=streak of foam]], [[prg|spoayno]] and [[la|spūma|t=foam]] and [[m|la|pūmex|t=pumice]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) the sources of [[spume]] and [[pumice]].^(Ayto 2005) Etymonline reconstructs [[ine-pro|*(s)poi-mo-|t=foam, froth]],^(Etymonline) and Barnhart [[m|ine-pro|*(s)phoim-]] beside [[m|ine-pro|*(s)phoin-]];^(Barnhart 1988) Kroonen explains the forms with ''-m-'' and ''-n-'' as one old stem with both suffixes.^(Kroonen 2013)^(OED 2026) The verb continues [[m|ang|fǣman]], but in the 14th century that verb was replaced by a new one formed on the noun, without its umlaut.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A mass of tiny bubbles formed in a liquid, in an Old English glossary, and the foaming saliva of a sick person or the froth of sweat on a horse, in the Old English Bede.^(OED 2026) The Old English word also meant the sea itself.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart finds the Middle English noun first in the sense "something unstable" (about 1275), then for saliva (1290) and for froth on the shore (before 1393).^(Barnhart 1988) The poetic sense "the sea" lasted from Old English into later verse.^(OED 2026) In the verb, frothing at the mouth served from the start as an image of rage;^(OED 2026) Barnhart finds a northern ''famen'' "to flow over" about 1375 and ''fomen'' "to froth at the mouth" in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988) Johnson (1755) defined the noun as the white substance that agitation or fermentation gathers on top of liquids.^(Johnson 1755) The 20th century added the foam used in fire-fighting (1907) and foam rubber and foam plastic (1937).^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In American slang, at first among Black speakers, ''foam'' meant beer from 1908.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – froth, foaming saliva, and (poetic) the sea.^(OED 2026)

+ * Old English – verb, to emit foam.^(OED 2026)

+ * about 1275 – ''fom'', “something unstable”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1398 – of a liquid, to froth.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1726 – to fill a cup with foaming liquor.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1907 – fire-fighting foam.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1908 – (US slang) beer.^(GDoS)

+ * 1937 – foam rubber and foam plastic.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A mass of small [[bubble]]s formed on or in a liquid by shaking, [[fermentation]] or [[effervescence]]; froth.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Frothy [[saliva]] from the mouth, or the frothy sweat of a horse.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A light, spongy solid made by trapping gas bubbles in [[rubber]] or plastic, used for packing, padding and [[insulation]]: ''a foam mattress''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # A thick frothy substance used to put out fires, or sold for shaving or styling hair.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (poetic) The sea.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form or give off foam; to [[froth]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # To be very angry, especially in ''foam at the mouth''.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To make something into foam, or to fill it with foam.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[foamless]]

+ * [[foamable]]

+ * [[foamer]]

+ * [[foamingly]]

+ * [[foamlike]]

+ * [[defoam]]

+ * [[foamflower]]

+ * [[foamy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[spume]]

+ * [[pumice]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Scots, ''fame'' or ''feam'' could mean a great heat or a fit of rage ("in a mighty feim"), and in East Anglia the word was also used for smoke or scum.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}