erm

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɝm/ enPR: ûrm

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɜːm/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)m

Used in non-rhotic dialects. Compare um.

Interjection

erm

1. (UK) Used in hesitant speech, or to express uncertainty; um, umm.

   She was going to, erm... the salon, I think.

2. (UK) Used to express embarrassment or subtle disagreement.

   Erm, I don't think that was supposed to happen.

   – Bob would never say something like that!
   – Erm, he just did.

Translations

Anagrams

• -mer, EMR, MER, MRE, R.E.M., REM, Rem, mer, mer-, rem, π-mer

Catalan

Etymology

From Late Latin erēmus, from Ancient Greek ἐρῆμος (erêmos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

erm (feminine erma, masculine plural erms, feminine plural ermes)

1. deserted, abandoned
2. uncultivated (not cultivated by agricultural methods)

Noun

erm m (plural erms)

1. wasteland

Related terms

• eixermar

Further reading

• “erm” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “erm”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “erm” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “erm” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Old Frisian

Alternative forms

• *arm

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈerm/,

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *arm. Cognates include Old English earm and Old Saxon arm.

Noun

erm m

2. (anatomy) arm

Inflection

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Föhr-Amrum: iarem

  Halligen: eerm

  Heligoland: iaarem

  Mooring: ärm

• Saterland Frisian: Íerm, Äirm
• West Frisian: earm

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *arm. Cognates include Old English earm and Old Saxon *arm.

Adjective

erm

2. poor

Descendants

• Saterland Frisian: äärm
• West Frisian: earm

References