lagom

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Swedish lagom (“just right”).

Noun

lagom (uncountable)

1. The philosophy or ethos of trying to achieve balance in one's life.
   • 2017, Lola A. Åkerström, Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well, page 178:

     Lagom seems to be fighting a losing battle against a world run by the instant gratification of social media, where we all want to be seen and be heard.

   • 2017, Niki Brantmark, Lagom (Not Too Little, Not Too Much): The Swedish Art of Living a Balanced, Happy Life, unnumbered page:

     The typical Scandinavian home is the very essence of lagom. It's neither too sparse nor too fussy, neither overly minimalist nor overdone.

   • 2017, Steffi Knowles-Dellner, Lagom: The Swedish Art of Eating Harmoniously, unnumbered page:

     Not surprisingly, lagom extends to our cuisine as well – the Swedes take great pride in eating healthily, drawing on their own cooking traditions and the seasons' offerings.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:lagom.

See also

• hygge

Anagrams

• gloam

Cebuano

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: la‧gom

Noun

lagom

1. maroon (color)
2. bruise
3. fly

Adjective

lagom

1. maroon (color)
2. black-and-blue
3. inky; dark

Verb

lagom

1. to darken
2. to turn blue from lack of oxygen

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• lugom

Etymology

An old dative plural of lag.

Adjective

lagom (neuter lagomt, definite singular and plural lagome)

1. serviceable, useful
2. good

References

• “lagom” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

The adjective is attested since 1637, from the plural dative form of lag (“law”), so literally "with the laws". The adverb is attested since 1675.

A common folk etymology states that it comes from laget om, meaning "to the whole team, group, retinue". The idea is that this is from the time of Viking long houses, where everyone would gather and drink mead and eat. In order for the mead not to run out, everyone would take not too little and not too much, so that there would be enough for the whole group.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑːˌɡɔm/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -²ɑːɡɔm

Adverb

lagom (comparative mer lagom, superlative mest lagom)

1. (just) right, fitting, neither too much nor too little

   Soppan är lagom saltad.

   The soup is salted just right.

   Den här lägenheten är precis lagom stor för min dotter.

   This apartment is just the right size for my daughter.

Adjective

lagom (not comparable)

1. (just) right, fitting, neither too much nor too little

Declension

Uninflected.

Derived terms

• lagom är bäst

Further reading

• lagom on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɡom/,
• Hyphenation: la‧gom

Noun

lagom (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜄᜓᜋ᜔)

1. gathering of things together; collection

   Synonyms: tipon, pagtitipon

2. summing up; totaling

   Synonyms: pagbuo, pagbubuo, pagsasama-sama

3. summary

   Synonyms: buod, kabuuran

4. act of summarizing

   Synonyms: pagbubuod, paglalagom

5. monopoly

   Synonyms: monopolyo, abarka

Derived terms

References

• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves‎ (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier, page 165: “LAGOM. pp. Juntar una cosa con otra, o juntarse el varón con dosa hermanas o primas, o ella con ellos.”