fume
English
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.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /fjuːm/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -uːm
Noun
fume (plural fumes)
- A gas or vapour/vapor that is strong-smelling or dangerous to inhale.
- Don't stand around in there breathing the fumes while the adhesive cures.
- 1753, Thomas Warton, Ode:
- the fumes of new-shorn hay
- A material that has been vaporized from the solid or liquid state to the gas state and re-coalesced to the solid state.
- Lead fume is a greyish powder, mainly comprising lead sulfate.
- Rage or excitement which deprives the mind of self-control.
- 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), 6th edition, London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, OCLC 21766567:
- The Fumes of his Passion do as really intoxicate and confound his judging and discerning Faculty , as the Fumes of Drink discompose and stupify the Brain of a Man over - charged with it.
- 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, OCLC 83401042:
- In his execution of this mission, Mr Tinkler perhaps expressed that Mr Dorrit was in a raging fume.
-
- Anything unsubstantial or airy; idle conceit; vain imagination.
- a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a VVarre vvith Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany VVorks of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, OCLC 557721855:
- a show of fumes and fancies
-
- The incense of praise; inordinate flattery.
- 1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 216894069:
- to smother him with fumes and eulogies
-
- (obsolete) A passionate person.
Usage notes
- In the sense of strong-smelling or dangerous vapor, the noun is typically plural, as in the example.
Derived terms
- exhaust fume
- fume cupboard
- fume date
- fume hood
Translations
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Verb
fume (third-person singular simple present fumes, present participle fuming, simple past and past participle fumed)
- (transitive) To expose (something) to fumes; specifically, to expose wood, etc., to ammonia in order to produce dark tints.
- (transitive) To apply or offer incense to.
- 1740, John Dyer, “The Ruins of Rome. A Poem.”, in Poems. [...] Viz. I. Grongar Hill. II. The Ruins of Rome. III. The Fleece, in Four Books, London: Printed by John Hughs, for Messrs. R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], published 1759, OCLC 991281870, pages 42–43:
- Tyrian garbs, / Neptunian Albion's high teſtaceous food [i.e., oysters], / And flavour'd Chian wines with incenſe fum'd / To ſlake Patrician thirſt: for theſe, their rights / In the vile ſtreets they proſtitute to ſale; / Their ancient rights, their dignities, their laws, / Their native glorious freedom.
-
- (intransitive) To emit fumes.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- where the golden altar fumed
- a. 1686, Earl of Roscommon [i.e., Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon]; Samuel Johnson, “Virgil’s Sixth Eclogue, Silenus”, in The Works of the English Poets. With Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, […], volume X (The Poems of Rochester, Roscommon, and Yalden), London: […] E. Cox; for C. Bathurst, […], published 1779, page 234, OCLC 4254798:
- Young Chromis and Mnaſylus chanc'd to ſtray / Where (ſleeping in a cave) Silenus lay, / Whoſe conſtant cups fly fuming to his brain, / And always boil in each extended vein; / His truſty flaggon, full of potent juice, / Was hanging by, worn thin with age and uſe; [...]
-
- (intransitive) To pass off in fumes or vapours.
- 1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], OCLC 1118497469:
- whose parts are kept from fuming away, not only by their fixity […]
-
- (intransitive, figuratively) To express or feel great anger.
- He’s still fuming about the argument they had yesterday.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:
- He frets, he fumes, he stares, he stamps the ground.
- 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, OCLC 270129616:
- Her mother did fret, and her father did fume.
- (intransitive, figuratively) To be as in a mist; to be dulled and stupefied.
- c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:
- Keep his brain fuming.
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Derived terms
Translations
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Asturian
French
Verb
fume
- inflection of fumer:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Galician
Alternative forms
Etymology
Attested since circa 1300. From Old Galician and Old Portuguese fumo (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin fūmus, although the final vowel could imply an Old French borrowing. Cognate with Portuguese fumo and Spanish humo.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈfumɪ]
Noun
fume m (plural fumes)
- smoke
- c1300, R. Martínez López (ed.), General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV. Oviedo: Publicacións de Archivum, page 209:
- coyda que o bafo et fume daquel fogo que ensuzou et [empoçoou] as agoas et aterra daly
- he thinks that the fumes and the smoke of that fire defiled and poisoned the waters and the soil there
- coyda que o bafo et fume daquel fogo que ensuzou et [empoçoou] as agoas et aterra daly
- 1348, J. Méndez Pérez & al. (eds.), El monasterio de San Salvador de Chantada, Santiago de Compostela: I. Padre Sarmiento, page 326:
- a vida deste mundo he asy como a sonbra, et quando ome se deleyta en ella he asy como o fumo que se vay logo
- the life in this world is like the shadow, and when a man delight in it is like the 'smoke, which soon goes away
- a vida deste mundo he asy como a sonbra, et quando ome se deleyta en ella he asy como o fumo que se vay logo
- c1300, R. Martínez López (ed.), General Estoria. Versión gallega del siglo XIV. Oviedo: Publicacións de Archivum, page 209:
- fume
- (figurative, in the plural) haughtiness
Verb
fume
References
- “fume” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “fume” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “fume” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “fume” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “fume” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Latin
Middle English
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Old French fum, from Latin fũmus, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂mós.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fiu̯m/
Noun
fume (plural fumes)
References
- “fūme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-03.
Etymology 2
From Old French fumer.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈfũ.mi/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈfu.me/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈfu.m(ɨ)/
Verb
fume
- inflection of fumar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
Spanish
Verb
fume
- inflection of fumar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative