bum

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʌm/

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌm

Etymology 1

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic. Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”).

Noun

bum (plural bums)

1. (informal or childish, chiefly Commonwealth) The buttocks.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:buttocks

   Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes.

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.
2. (informal or childish, chiefly Commonwealth) The anus.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:anus

   • 2013, Steven L. Ablon, Daniel P. Brown, Edward J. Khantzian, Human Feelings: Explorations in Affect Development and Meaning, page 132:

     John said that when he was little he stuck his finger in his bum and tasted his poopies and it was good.

   • 2015, Jonathan Nicholas, Who'd be a copper?: Thirty years a frontline British cop:

     What could the man possibly be hiding up his bum anyway?

   • 2016, Lisa Keenan-Lindsay, Cheryl Sams, Constance L. O'Connor, Maternal Child Nursing Care in Canada, page 118:

     Do you have intercourse (i.e., Do you penetrate your partner in the vagina or anus [bum]? Or does your partner penetrate your vagina or anus [bum])?

   • 2017, Jean Renvoize, Innocence Destroyed: A Study of Child Sexual Abuse:

     […] and said Daddy had put a finger up her bum.

Usage notes

• While bum is most common in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, in Canada, bum is mainly used when speaking to young children, as in Everyone please sit on your bum and we'll read a story. In the United States, bum is not often used in this sense (though this may vary from dialect to dialect) except in conscious imitation of British English. The term butt is the most common term in North America except in professional contexts such as medical, legal, and scientific where buttocks is generally used or gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, etc. for the muscles specifically. Glutes is often used in sports medicine and bodybuilding. Ass (originally a dialectal variant of arse) is considered vulgar in North America, whereas backside, behind, and bottom are considered to be non-specific terms.

Translations

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

1. (UK, Ireland, transitive, colloquial) To sodomize; to engage in anal sex.
   • 2016 December 3, “Soph Aspin Send”, performed by Millie B:

     Your bars are fake and my bars are real / Is it true you got bummed on a field

Interjection

bum

2. (UK, Ireland, childish, euphemistic) An expression of annoyance.

   Synonym: arse (more vulgar)

   • 2010, Jill Mansell, Sheer Mischief‎:

     Maxine tried hers. 'Oh bum,' she said crossly. 'The sugar isn't sugar. It's salt.'

Derived terms

Etymology 2

1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).

Noun

bum (plural bums)

2. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A homeless person, usually a man.

   Synonyms: tramp, vagrant, wanderer, vagabond; see also Thesaurus:vagabond

3. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man.

   Synonyms: loafer, bumpkin, footler; see also Thesaurus:idler

   Fred is becoming a bum - he's not even bothering to work more than once a month.

   That mechanic's a bum - he couldn't fix a yo-yo.

   That guy keeps interrupting the concert. Throw the bum out!

   • 1987, “Fairytale of New York”, performed by The Pogues:

     You're a bum / You're a punk / You're an old slut on junk / Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed

   • 1988, Michael Weikath (lyrics and music), “Keeper of the Seven Keys”, in Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II, performed by Helloween:

     Man who do you just think you are? / A silly bum with seven stars

4. (colloquial, sports) A player or racer who often performs poorly.

   Trade him to another team, he's a bum!

   • 2001, Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit: An American Legend:

     Seabiscuit, wrote another reporter, “was a hero in California and a pretty fair sort of horse in the midwest. In the east, however, he was just a ‘bumʼ”

5. (colloquial) A drinking spree.

   Synonyms: binge, bender

Translations

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

1. (transitive, colloquial) To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something.

   Synonyms: (British) cadge; see also Thesaurus:scrounge

   Can I bum a cigarette off you?

2. (intransitive, colloquial) To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond.

   Synonym: loiter

   I think I'll just bum around downtown for a while until dinner.

3. (transitive, slang, British) To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff).

Descendants

• → French: bummer
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: bomma

Translations

Adjective

bum (comparative bummer, superlative bummest)

1. (slang) Of poor quality or highly undesirable.

   bum note

2. (slang) Unfair.

   a bum deal

3. (slang) Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective.

   Synonym: (UK) duff

   I can't play football anymore on account of my bum knee.

4. (slang) Unpleasant or unhappy.

   He had a bum trip on that mescaline.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Back-formation from bum out.

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

1. To depress; to make unhappy.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “bum”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Etymology 4

See boom.

Noun

bum (plural bums)

1. (dated) A humming noise.

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

1. (intransitive) To make a murmuring or humming sound.
   • 1722, William Hamilton, The Wallace:

     English men bum there [Stirling] as thick as bees.

Etymology 5

Abbreviation.

Noun

bum (plural bums)

1. (obsolete) A bumbailiff.
   • 1705, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees:

     About her Chariot, and behind, / Were Sergeants, Bums of every kind, / Tip-staffs, and all those Officers, / That squeeze a Living out of Tears.

References

Anagrams

• MBU, UMB, umb, umb-

Albanian

Etymology

From English boom with orthographic adaptation.

Noun

bum

1. (economics) boom

Indonesian

Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:

bum

Wikipedia ^id

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: bum

Etymology 1

From Dutch slagboom (“boom barrier, boom gate”) or boom (“beam, barrier, tree, pole”), from Middle Dutch bôom, from Old Dutch bōm, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz. Doublet of bom.

Noun

bum (first-person possessive bumku, second-person possessive bummu, third-person possessive bumnya)

1. boom barrier, boom gate
2. (figuratively) customs

Alternative forms

• bom

Synonyms

• bea cukai
• duane
• kastam (Standard Malay)
• pabean

Etymology 2

From English boom, onomatopoeic.

Noun

bum (first-person possessive bumku, second-person possessive bummu, third-person possessive bumnya)

1. (economics, business) boom: a period of prosperity, growth, progress, or high market activity.

Further reading

• “bum” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bum m (genitive singular bum, nominative plural bumanna)

1. (sailing) boom

Declension

Synonyms

• crann scóide
• bumaile

Mutation

Mizo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bum/

Verb

bum

1. swindle
2. cheat
3. trick

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bum/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -um
• Syllabification: bum
• Homophone: boom

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bum

1. boom (sound of explosion)
2. bang (any brief, sharp, loud noise)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch boom.

Noun

bum m inan

1. Alternative form of bom

Declension

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English boom.

Noun

bum m inan

1. Alternative form of boom

Declension

Further reading

• bum I in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bum II in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ũ
• Hyphenation: bum

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bum!

1. boom (sound of explosion)

Etymology 2

From English boom.

Noun

bum m (plural buns)

1. boom (a rapid expansion or increase)
   • 2023, Djalma do Nascimento Sousa, chapter 145, in Memórias do Sul do Maranhão, Maranhão, published 2023, page VIII:

     O "bum" do gado só veio com a crise do arroz no final de 80 para início de 90;

     The cattle boom only came with the rice crisis in the late 80s and early 90s;

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bum

1. boom

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

bum (Cyrillic spelling бум)

1. (Kajkavian) first-person singular future of biti

Spanish

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbum/
• Rhymes: -um
• Syllabification: bum

Interjection

¡bum!

1. boom (used to suggest the sound of an explosion)
2. boom (used to suggest something happening suddenly and unexpectedly)

See also

• pum
• pop

Further reading

• “bum”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Transylvanian Saxon

Noun

bum m

1. tree

References

• Siebenbürger Sachsen

Umbrian

Romanization

bum

1. Romanization of 𐌁𐌖𐌌

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bum/

Noun

bum (nominative plural bums)

1. act of building

Declension

Derived terms

• bumäd
• bumot

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /bɨ̞m/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /bɪm/

Numeral

bum

1. Soft mutation of pum (“five”).

Mutation