fume

B2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ˈfjuːm/ UK /fjuːm/ See IPA manual

Freq #48298

Meanings

1

noun
Strong-smelling or dangerous gas, smoke, or vapour.

Don't stand around breathing the fumes while the glue dries.
2

verb
To be very angry, often quietly.

They fumed for hours after losing the game.
3

verb
To give off smoke or vapour.

The beaker was fuming on the lab bench.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · strong-smelling or... smoke effluvium

3 verb · to give off smoke or vapour. smoke

Word family

Forms fumedfumesfuming

Derived forms fumaciousfumedfumelessfumelikefumewortfumishfumivorousfumulusfumy

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.

*dʰewh₂- Proto-Indo-European fume Middle English fum Old French fūmus Latin *dʰuh₂mós Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# fume

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈfjuːm/
**IPA (UK):** /fjuːm/
**Frequency rank:** 48298

## Meanings
1. Strong-smelling or dangerous gas, smoke, or vapour.
2. To be very angry, often quietly.
3. To give off smoke or vapour.

## Examples
- Don't stand around breathing the fumes while the glue dries.
- They fumed for hours after losing the game.
- The beaker was fuming on the lab bench.

## Derived Forms
- fumacious
- fumed
- fumeless
- fumelike
- fumewort
- fumish
- fumivorous
- fumulus
- fumy

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *dʰewh₂-
- Root: fume
- Root: fum
- Root: fūmus
- Root: *dʰuh₂mós

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Fume comes 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. In current use, the main senses are “Strong-smelling or dangerous gas, smoke, or vapour” and “To be very angry, often quietly”.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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