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Gaum
Definitions
- 1 Heed; attention. UK, dialectal, rare, uncountable
""S'cat! s'cat! — set that cat off that barns knee — it al puzzum it!" "Ah've tel'd 'em awal abart that tu monny a hunderd times, bud thuh tak no moar gaum o' muh then a stoop.""
- 2 Grime. rare, uncountable
""douse your head under the pump and wash some of the gaum off your hands and we'll see what your Aunt Debbie can do for that empty feelin'.""
- 3 A bit, a small amount. dialectal, rare
"When he had let what he deemed was a sufficiency of blood out of the incised vein, he called to Elvira to bring a spoon of "sut" from off the back of the fireplace and a "gaum" of spiderwebs from somewhere or other."
- 4 A useless person. colloquial, dialectal, rare
"He's a scrawny gaum of a lad named Tony Regan, the tailor's eldest son."
- 5 A village. India, archaic
- 1 To understand; comprehend; consider. dialectal, obsolete
""We said nowt on 't. Ther' no 'casion to stir up trouble. But we all gaumed 'at when he heerd t' sounds o' them 'at com to lowse us he'd crawled off into t' workin's an' brayed his head agean a shou'der o' quartz.""
- 2 To smear. Appalachia, Midlands, Southern-US, UK, US, dialectal
"No, bubby, couldn't hev the wax. Gaum him all up so 't mammy 'd hafter nigh abaout skin him tu git him clean ag'in; […]"
- 3 Alternative form of gorm (to make a mess of). alt-of, alternative
""She'll get plum bereft 'n worried, even git the all'overs, if n the place's all gaumed up.""
Etymology
The noun is from dialectal (Northern) English, from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaum, gaumr (“heed, attention”), from Proto-Germanic *gaumō (“attention”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰowe- (“to heed, pay attention”). The verb is from Middle English *gomen, from the noun. Compare native Middle English yemen, from Old English ġīeman (“to care for, heed”), and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaumjan, “observe”).
The noun is from dialectal (Northern) English, from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaum, gaumr (“heed, attention”), from Proto-Germanic *gaumō (“attention”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰowe- (“to heed, pay attention”). The verb is from Middle English *gomen, from the noun. Compare native Middle English yemen, from Old English ġīeman (“to care for, heed”), and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaumjan, “observe”).
Uncertain; perhaps a variant of gum.
Unknown. Possibly related to gaum (“smear”, verb).
Unknown.
Probably a variant of gom (an Irish English slang term for a foolish person), but possibly related to or influenced by gorming, gawming (“clumsy, stupid”).
Variant of gorm (“to make a mess of”), which see for more.
From Hindi [Term?].
See also for "gaum"
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