fume

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word fume. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word fume, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say fume in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word fume you have here. The definition of the word fume will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition offume, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: fumé and fumê

English

Etymology

From Middle English fume, from Old French fum (“smoke, steam, vapour”), from Latin fūmus (“vapour, smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós (“smoke”), from *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Doublet of thymus and thymos. More at dun, dusk, dust.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /fjuːm/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːm

Noun

fume (plural fumes)

  1. A gas or vapour/vapor that is strong-smelling or dangerous to inhale.
    Don't stand around in there breathing the fumes while the adhesive cures.
  2. A material that has been vaporized from the solid or liquid state to the gas state and re-coalesced to the solid state.
    Lead fume is a greyish powder, mainly comprising lead sulfate.
  3. Rage or excitement which deprives the mind of self-control.
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: J Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, , published 1727, →OCLC:
      The Fumes of his Passion do as really intoxicate and confound his judging and discerning Faculty , as the Fumes of Drink discompose and stupify the Brain of a Man over - charged with it.
    • 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1857, →OCLC:
      In his execution of this mission, Mr Tinkler perhaps expressed that Mr Dorrit was in a raging fume.
  4. Anything unsubstantial or airy; idle conceit; vain imagination.
    • a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a VVarre vvith Spaine. ”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. , London: I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, , published 1629, →OCLC:
      a show of fumes and fancies
  5. The incense of praise; inordinate flattery.
  6. (obsolete) A passionate person.

Usage notes

  • In the sense of strong-smelling or dangerous vapor, the noun is typically plural, as in the example.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

fume (third-person singular simple present fumes, present participle fuming, simple past and past participle fumed)

  1. (transitive) To expose (something) to fumes; specifically, to expose wood, etc., to ammonia in order to produce dark tints.
  2. (transitive) To apply or offer incense to.
    • 1740, John Dyer, “The Ruins of Rome. A Poem.”, in Poems. Viz. I. Grongar Hill. II. The Ruins of Rome. III. The Fleece, in Four Books, London: Printed by John Hughs, for Messrs. R and J Dodsley, , published 1759, →OCLC, pages 42–43:
      Tyrian garbs, / Neptunian Albion's high teſtaceous food [i.e., oysters], / And flavour'd Chian wines with incenſe fum'd / To ſlake Patrician thirſt: for theſe, their rights / In the vile ſtreets they proſtitute to ſale; / Their ancient rights, their dignities, their laws, / Their native glorious freedom.
  3. (intransitive) To emit fumes.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:
      where the golden altar fumed
    • a. 1686, Earl of Roscommon [i.e., Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon], Samuel Johnson, “Virgil’s Sixth Eclogue, Silenus”, in The Works of the English Poets. With Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, , volumes X (The Poems of Rochester, Roscommon, and Yalden), London: E. Cox; for C. Bathurst, , published 1779, page 234, →OCLC:
      Young Chromis and Mnaſylus chanc'd to ſtray / Where (ſleeping in a cave) Silenus lay, / Whoſe conſtant cups fly fuming to his brain, / And always boil in each extended vein; / His truſty flaggon, full of potent juice, / Was hanging by, worn thin with age and uſe; [...]
  4. (intransitive) To pass off in fumes or vapours.
  5. (intransitive, figuratively) To express or feel great anger.
    He’s still fuming about the argument they had yesterday.
  6. (intransitive, figuratively) To be as in a mist; to be dulled and stupefied.

Derived terms

Translations

Asturian

Verb

fume

  1. first-person singular present subjunctive of fumar
  2. third-person singular present subjunctive of fumar

French

Pronunciation

Verb

fume

  1. inflection of fumer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

Galician

Alternative forms

Etymology

Attested since circa 1300. From Old Galician-Portuguese fumo (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin fūmus, although the final vowel could imply an Old French borrowing. Cognate with Portuguese fumo and Spanish humo.

Pronunciation

Noun

fume m (plural fumes)

  1. smoke
    • c. 1300, R. Martínez López, editor, General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV, Oviedo: Publicacións de Archivum, page 209:
      coyda que o bafo et fume daquel fogo que ensuzou et [empoçoou] as agoas et aterra daly
      he thinks that the fumes and the smoke of that fire defiled and poisoned the waters and the soil there
    • 1348, J. Méndez Pérez & al. (eds.), El monasterio de San Salvador de Chantada, Santiago de Compostela: I. Padre Sarmiento, page 326:
      a vida deste mundo he asy como a sonbra, et quando ome se deleyta en ella he asy como o fumo' que se vay logo
      the life in this world is like the shadow, and when a man delight in it is like the smoke, which soon goes away
  2. fume
    Synonyms: bafo, vapor
  3. (figurative, in the plural) haughtiness

Related terms

Verb

fume

  1. inflection of fumar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

References

  • “fume” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
  • “fume” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
  • “fume” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
  • “fume” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
  • “fume” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Latin

Noun

fūme

  1. vocative singular of fūmus

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French fum, from Latin fũmus, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

fume (plural fumes)

  1. Visible gaseous emanations; fumes or smoke.
  2. Any sort of vapour or gaseous emanation.
  3. (physiology) Fumes as the supposed cause of feelings.
  4. (rare) An airborne scent or odour.
Related terms
Descendants
  • English: fume
  • Scots: fume
References

Etymology 2

From Old French fumer.

Verb

fume

  1. Alternative form of fumen

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

fume (present tense fumar, past tense fuma, past participle fuma, passive infinitive fumast, present participle fumande, imperative fume/fum)

  1. (pre-2012) alternative form of fomme

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

Verb

fume

  1. inflection of fumar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

fume

  1. inflection of fumar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Tarantino

Noun

fume

  1. smoke
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia