dam

dam

1. (metrology) Symbol for decametre, an SI unit of length equal to 10¹ metres.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /dæm/

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• Rhymes: -æm
• Homophone: damn

From Middle English dam, from Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam (plural dams)

1. A structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding.

   A dam is often an essential source of water to farmers of hilly country.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

     Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins […]

   • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

     Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

2. The water reservoir resulting from placing such a structure.

   Boats may only be used at places set aside for boating on the dam.

3. (dentistry) A device to prevent a tooth from getting wet during dental work, consisting of a rubber sheet held with a band.
4. (South Africa, Australia) A reservoir.
5. A firebrick wall, or a stone, which forms the front of the hearth of a blast furnace.

dam (third-person singular simple present dams, present participle damming, simple past and past participle dammed)

1. (transitive) To block the flow of water.
   • 1682, Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv’d, or, A Plot Discover’d. A Tragedy. […], London: Printed for Jos[eph] Hindmarsh […], OCLC 664400715, Act I, scene i, pages 3–4:

     Home I would go, / But that my Dores are hatefull to my eyes. / Fill'd and damm'd up with gaping Creditors, / Watchful as Fowlers when their Game will spring; [...]

Variant of dame. Doublet of domina and donna.

dam (plural dams)

1. Female parent, mother, generally regarding breeding of animals.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, stanza 52:

     More dear […] than younglings to their dam.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:

     The dam runs lowing up and down, / Looking the way her harmless young one went.

   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     Hunters assure us, that to chuse the best dog, and which they purpose to keepe from out a litter of other young whelps, there is no better meane than the damme herselfe […].

   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Part 1:

     she / Resolved that Juan should be quite a paragon, / And worthy of the noblest pedigree / (His sire was from Castile, his dam from Aragon) […].

   • 1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber 1992:

     The sky was cloudless—the moon rolled across the surface like a lamb searching for its dam.

2. A kind of crowned piece in the game of draughts.

• (male parent): sire

Said to be possibly coined from the English phrase "I don't give a dam(n)," referring to its small worth.[1]

dam (plural dams) (historical)

1. (India) An obsolete Indian copper coin, equal to a fortieth of a rupee.
   • 1839, William Holloway, A General Dictionary of Provincialisms, Written with a View to Rescue from Oblivion the Fast Fading Relics of By-gone Days, Lewes, East Sussex: Sussex Press: Printed and published by Baxter and Son, OCLC 3138091, page 42:

     […] A small Indian coin; whence comes the saying "I don't care a dam for you," that is I don't value you a farthing, and not as generally given, "I don't care a damn" or a "curse for you." [Possibly a folk etymology.]

2. A former coin of Nepal, 128 of which were worth one mohar.

Clipping or Pronunciation spelling of damn.

dam

1. (slang or pronunciation spelling) Damn.

dam (not comparable)

1. (slang or pronunciation spelling) Damn.
   • 2020, Jacie Rowe III, White Lies, Black Truth, The Lost Light (page 196)

     Do not get too caught up in individual campism. The Most-High sent your spirits back on earth to fix yourselves, come together and wake up our people, so do your dam job and stop letting your fleshly desires control you.

• dam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dam (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Dam in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• ADM, AMD, Adm., DMA, MAD, MDA, Mad, adm., mad

From Dutch dam, from Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

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dam (plural damme)

1. pond, basin
2. dam

• opgaardam
• studam

From Proto-Vietic *ɗam, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *p(ɗ)am; cognate with Vietnamese năm.

• IPA^(key): [dam]

dam

1. five

• Michel Ferlus, 2014, Arem, a Vietic Language, Mon-Khmer Studies 43.1-15, page 5

From Old Anatolian Turkish طام‎ (d̥am, dam), from Proto-Turkic *tām.

• IPA^(key): /dɑm/

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dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

1. roof
2. hovel, shack
3. dugout
4. cowshed, sheep cote (a structure where animals are held)

   donuz damı ― pigsty

5. (figurative) lockup, jail, quod

   dama basdırmaq ― to lock up, to put in jail

6. (archaic) grid, net
7. (archaic) trap, snare

   dam qurmaq ― to set a trap

   Synonyms: tələ, cələ, duzaq

From English dam, from Middle English dam, damme, from Old English *dam, *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam

1. a dam; a structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow
2. a reservoir

dam

1. stable
2. roof
3. taste

• (stable): aran
• (taste): lezet, nezet, tat, dad

From Old Norse dammr (“dam”).

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite damme)

1. pond
2. corf, livewell (for storage of live fish under water)

• dambrug n

Borrowed from French jeu de dames (“draughts”).

dam c or n

1. draughts, checkers

Borrowed from French dame (“lady”).

dam c (singular definite dammen, plural indefinite dammer)

1. king (superior piece in draughts)

• IPA^(key): /dɑm/

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• Hyphenation: dam
• Homophone: Dam
• Rhymes: -ɑm

From Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-West Germanic *damm, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam m (plural dammen, diminutive dammetje n)

1. dam

- general:

- toponyms:

• Afrikaans: dam
• → Caribbean Hindustani: dám
• → Indonesian: dam (“dam”)
• → Papiamentu: dam
• → Saramaccan: dan
• → Sranan Tongo: dan, dam
  • → Caribbean Javanese: dham

Borrowed from Middle French dame, from Spanish dama.

dam f (plural dammen)

1. (checkers) king (double draught/checker)

• dammen

• → Indonesian: dam (“draught/checker(s)”)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

dam

1. first-person singular present indicative of dammen
2. imperative of dammen

Inherited[1] from Latin damnum.

• IPA^(key): (predominant) /dam/, (dated) /dɑ̃/, (archaic) /dan/

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• Homophones: dams (general), dame, dames (form 1), dans, dent, dents (form 2)

dam m (plural dams)

1. (obsolete except in phrases) damage
2. (religion) damnation

• au grand dam de

• damner
• dommage

• “dam”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• AMD

From Latin damnum.

dam m (plural dams)

1. damage

• daneç

• danâ

Borrowed from Bengali দাম (dam).

dam

1. price

• IPA^(key): [ˈdam]
• Hyphenation: dam

From Dutch dam (“king (draught/checkers)”), from Middle French dame, from Old French dame, from Latin domina.

dam (first-person possessive damku, second-person possessive dammu, third-person possessive damnya)

1. (games) draught (American), checkers (British).
2. checker, a pattern of alternating colours as on a chessboard.

From Dutch dam (“dam”), from Middle Dutch dam, from Old Dutch dam, from Proto-Germanic *dammaz.

dam (first-person possessive damku, second-person possessive dammu, third-person possessive damnya)

1. dam, a structure placed across a flowing body of water to stop the flow or part of the flow, generally for purposes such as retaining or diverting some of the water or retarding the release of accumulated water to avoid abrupt flooding.

   Synonyms: bendungan, tanggul

From Arabic دَم‎ (dam, “blood”), from Proto-Semitic *dam-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *dam-.

dam (first-person possessive damku, second-person possessive dammu, third-person possessive damnya)

1. (Islam) fine, a punishment for breaking the law.

• “dam” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

dam (emphatic damsa)

1. Alternative form of dom (“for/to me”)

dam

1. honey

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *l-(t/d)jam (“full, flat”).

• IPA^(key): /dam/

dam

1. flat

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎, Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

• IPA^(key): /däm/
• Rhymes: -am

dam (Jawi spelling دم‎, plural dam-dam, informal 1st possessive damku, 2nd possessive dammu, 3rd possessive damnya)

1. draughts; checkers (two-player board game).

• “dam” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

• diem

From Arabic دامَ‎ (dāma).

• IPA^(key): /daːm/

dam (imperfect jdum)

1. to last; to take (time, especially long time)

   Synonym: (imperfect only) jtul

• dejjem

From Old English *damm, from Proto-West Germanic *damm.

• damme, dame

• IPA^(key): /dam/

dam

1. dam (structure to block water)
2. body of water

• English: dam
• Scots: dam

• “dam, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

dam

1. Alternative form of dame

dam

1. (when preceding labials) Alternative form of dan

From Old Irish dam.

• IPA^(key): /daṽ/

dam m (genitive daim)

1. ox
   • c. 1000, Anonymous; published in (1935), Rudolf Thurneysen, editor, Scéla Mucca Meic Dathó, Dublin: Staionery Office, § 1, l. 12, page 2: “Dam ocus tinne in cach coiri. [[There was] an ox and a side of bacon in each cauldron.]”

• Irish: damh
• Manx: dow
• Scottish Gaelic: damh

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 dam”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

From Danish dam, from Old Norse dammr m, damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?].

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammer, definite plural dammene)

1. a pond
2. a dam (structure)

• demning (structure)

From French jeu de dames.

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammer, definite plural dammene)

1. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

• “dam” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Middle Norwegian dammr m, from Old Norse damm n. The meaning dam (structure) probably comes from Middle Low German [Term?].

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammar, definite plural dammane)

1. a pond
2. a dam (structure)

• demning (structure)

From French jeu de dames.

dam m (definite singular dammen, indefinite plural dammar, definite plural dammane)

1. the game of checkers (US) or draughts (UK)

• “dam” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• ab (Gard)
• amb (Languedoc)
• ambé (Provençal)
• dab (Gascony)
• damb (Gascony)
• emb (Limousin)
• embé (Provençal)

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dam

1. (Gascony) (accompaniment) with

   Cada an, que pujava peth Mont Valièr amont, dam eras vacas, nà amontanhar.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

• IPA^(key): /daṽ/

From Proto-Celtic *damos, from Proto-Indo-European *dm̥h₂-ó- (“bull”) (compare Albanian dem (“bullock”), Ancient Greek δάμαλος (dámalos, “calf”)), from *demh₂- (“to tame”) (compare Old Irish daimid (“to allow, give in”), Latin domō, English tame).

dam m (genitive daim)

1. ox
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 10^d6

     .i. do·fuáircc .i. ar is bés leosom in daim do thúarcuin ind arbe

     Which tramples, i.e. for it is custom among them to have the oxen trample on the corn.

2. stag
3. (by extension) hero, champion

• Middle Irish: dam
  • Irish: damh
  • Manx: dow
  • Scottish Gaelic: damh

dam f

1. hind, cow (old feminine form of previous)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

dam

1. inflection of daimid:
   1. first-person singular present subjunctive conjunct
   2. second-person singular imperative

·dam

1. third-person singular present indicative conjunct of daimid

dam

1. Alternative form of dom (“to/for me”)

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “1 dam”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “2 dam”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

• IPA^(key): /dam/

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• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: dam

dam

1. first-person singular future of dać

dam

1. genitive plural of dama

• 𐴊𐴝𐴔𐴢‎ (dam) – Hanifi Rohingya script

From Magadhi Prakrit 𑀤𑀫𑁆𑀫 (damma), from Sanskrit দ্ৰম্ম (drámma), borrowed from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). Cognate with Bengali দাম (dam).

dam (Hanifi spelling 𐴊𐴝𐴔𐴢)

1. price

   Synonyms: dor, kimot

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish دام‎ (dam), from Old Turkic [script needed] (tam), from Proto-Turkic *tām.

dam n (plural damuri)

1. cowshed

dam

1. owl

• López Antonio, Joaquín; Jones, Ted; Jones, Kris (2012) Vocabulario breve del Zapoteco de San Juan Guelavía‎ (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Tlalpan, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., pages 14, 23, 40

dam

1. Romanization of 𒁮 (dam)

From French dame.

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• IPA^(key): /dɑːm/

dam c

1. a lady, a woman
2. (card games, chess, checkers) a queen

   ruter dam ― queen of diamonds

• (in chess): drottning

• dam in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

From Ottoman Turkish طام‎ (dam), from Old Turkic [script needed] (tam), from Proto-Turkic *tām.

Compare Uyghur تام‎ (tam, “wall”), Korean 담 (dam, “wall”).

• IPA^(key): /dɑm/

dam (definite accusative damı, plural damlar)

1. roof

dam (plural damlar)

1. bellows

• đam

From Proto-Vietic *k-taːm; ultimately from Proto-Mon-Khmer *kt₁aam (“crab”). ‹d› here is the result of lenition (Proto-Vietic *k-t- > Middle Vietnamese ‹d› /ð/ > Modern Vietnamese ‹d›). Compare đam, the form with unlenited initial consonant.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zaːm˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [jaːm˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [jaːm˧˧]

(classifier con) dam

1. (North Central Vietnam) field crab; freshwater crab

   Dù ai béo bạo như tru,
   Về đất Kẻ Ngù cũng tóm như dam
   Ai mà gầy tóm như dam
   Về đất nhà Chàng, cũng béo như tru

   Whosoever as fat and ferocious as the buffalo,
   when coming to Kẻ Ngù, they'll be as lean as the crab.
   Whosoever as lean as the crab,
   when coming home to Chàng, they'll be as fat as the buffalo

dam

1. owl

• Long C., Rebecca; Cruz M., Sofronio (2000) Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 38)‎ (in Spanish), second electronic edition, Coyoacán, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 215