hum

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

Also spelled a-hummin

US /hʌm/ UK /hʌm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to make a low continuous murmuring sound or sing with closed lips

She liked to hum a tune while washing the dishes.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make a low continuous... drone buzz murmur croon purr whirthrum

Word family

Derived forms hummerhumming

Etymology

Of imitative origin, echoing a low continuous murmuring sound; first recorded in Middle English as hummen.

hummen Middle English hum onomatopoeic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# hum

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /hʌm/
**IPA (UK):** /hʌm/

## Meanings
1. to make a low continuous murmuring sound or sing with closed lips

## Examples
- She liked to hum a tune while washing the dishes.

## Synonyms
- drone
- buzz
- murmur
- croon
- purr
- whir
- thrum

## Derived Forms
- hummer
- humming

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hummen
- Root: hum

## Etymology
Of imitative origin, echoing a low continuous murmuring sound; first recorded in Middle English as hummen.

## AI Etymology
hum is of imitative origin, echoing a low continuous murmuring sound; first recorded in Middle English as hummen. The history explains the modern form through the named earlier word or formation, without requiring a separate speculative ancestry. The etymology remains cautious where the history is cautious: comparisons, echoic formation, or disputed derivation do not make the ancestry more definite than the forms actually named. In present English, the verb sense is "to make a low continuous murmuring sound or sing with closed lips", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also remains productive in derivatives such as hummer and humming. Its semantic neighborhood includes drone, buzz, murmur, and croon, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Middle English hummen and onomatopoeic hum.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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hum