Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

oom

/ʊm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.40 in modern English

Syllables: oom
IPA: /ʊm/

5

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

2

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An older man, especially an uncle. (Frequently as a respectful form of address.)

phrase

Initialism of out of memory.

phrase

Initialism of out of mana.

noun

An instance of an out of memory error.

noun

Initialism of order of magnitude.

Example Sentences

"He raised his glass. ‘Here's to you, Oom Ben,’ he said. ‘Give them hell.’"
"If you write infinitely recursive code, you might generate an OOM error."

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans oom. Doublet of eam and ohm.

Origin

Source language: Afrikaans

Word Breakdown

Root: oom

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ʊm/

Inflected Forms

ooms (plural)

Phrases

oom-pah

Frequently Paired Words

oom-pah

Rhymes With

room bathroom cum broom vroom frum voom shtum degum

Questions

How do you pronounce oom?: The recorded pronunciation is /ʊm/.
What does oom mean?: An older man, especially an uncle. (Frequently as a respectful form of address.)
Where does oom come from?: It is traced to Afrikaans.

How to pronounce oom

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “oom”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ʊm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “oom”.
Repeat and practice — Say “oom” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.