fam

See also: Fam, FAM, fam., Fam., fám, and fâm

English

Etymology

Abbreviations

• (family, term of endearment): Clipping of family
• (familiarization): Clipping of familiarization

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fæm/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æm

Noun

fam (plural fams)

2. (informal) Clipping of family.

   I'm gonna visit the fam.

4. (slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular, MLE, MTE, Internet slang) A term of endearment between friends; derived from "family" but not used between relatives.

   Hey fam, how you doin'? / Safe mate, safe.

   • 2019, “Going Through It” (track 6), in Ignorance Is Bliss, performed by Skepta:

     Gotta get more organised, 'cah fam, I hate rushing

   • 2019, Junauda Petrus, The Stars and the Blackness Between Them, Penguin, →ISBN, page 77:

     “Yo, Audre, so content warning: My mama is wearing booty shorts—or pum-pum shorts, whatever you call it—doing yoga in the backyard. She is very comfortable with herself and her body and all a that, so you been warned, fam.”

6. (colloquial, hospitality industry) Clipping of familiarization.

   The tourist board organized fam junkets for travel agents.

   She arranged back-to-back fams and took her boyfriend.

Derived terms

• famalam
• fam-bam
• fam trip

Anagrams

• AFM, AMF, FMA, MAF, MFA

Bulu (Cameroon)

Noun

fam (plural befam)

1. man (adult male human)

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin famēs (“hunger”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰH- (“to disappear”). Compare Occitan fam or Occitan hami.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfam]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

fam f (uncountable)

1. hunger (desire for food)

   Synonym: gana

2. famine, starvation

Derived terms

• afamar

Related terms

• famolenc

Further reading

• “fam” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “fam”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “fam” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “fam” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Franco-Provençal

Alternative forms

• fàm (ORB, narrow)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin famēs.

Noun

fam f (plural fams) (ORB, broad)

1. hunger

References

• faim in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• fam in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Galician

Verb

fam

1. (reintegrationist norm) third-person plural present indicative of fazer

Hausa

Etymology

Borrowed from English pound.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fâm/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [ɸâŋ]

Noun

fâm m (plural fàmā̀fàmai or fàmfàmai)

1. pound (currency used in the UK, obsolete in Nigeria)
2. (colloquial) 2 naira.

Karipúna Creole French

Etymology

From French femme (“woman; wife”), from Latin fēmina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfam/

Noun

fam

1. woman
2. wife

See also

• uóm

References

• Alfred W. Tobler (1987) Dicionário Crioulo Karipúna/Português Português/Crioulo Karípúna (in Karipúna Creole French), Summer Institute of Linguistics, page 8

Louisiana Creole

Etymology

From French femme (“woman”).

Noun

fam

1. woman

References

• Albert Valdman, Dictionary of Louisiana Creole

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French femme.

Noun

fam

1. (derogatory) woman

References

• Baker, Philip & Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. 1987. Dictionnaire de créole mauricien. Morisyen – English – Français

Middle English

Noun

fam

1. Alternative form of fom

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan fam, from Latin famēs (“hunger”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Noun

fam m (uncountable)

1. hunger

Old English

Alternative forms

• fǣm

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *faimaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɑːm/

Noun

fām n

1. foam

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	fām	fām
accusative	fām	fām
genitive	fāmes	fāma
dative	fāme	fāmum

Derived terms

• fǣman
• fāmiġ

Descendants

• Middle English: fom, fam, fome, foom, foome
  • English: foam
    • → Faroese: fómur
  • Scots: fame, faim, faem
• → Faroese: fám

Old French

Noun

fam oblique singular, f (oblique plural fans, nominative singular fam, nominative plural fans)

1. Alternative form of fame

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin famēs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fam/

Noun

fam

1. hunger
   • c. 1110, Guilhèm de Peitieus, Canso:

     Quar senes lieys non puesc viure, / Tant ai pres de s'amor gran fam.

     For without her I cannot live, such great hunger have I for her love.

Descendants

• Occitan: fam

Romansch

Alternative forms

• fom (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin famēs.

Noun

fam f (usually uncountable)

1. (Puter) hunger

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vam/

Noun

fam

1. Soft mutation of mam.

Mutation

Mutated forms of mam

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
mam	fam	unchanged	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Zazaki

Etymology

Related to Persian فهم (fahm).

Noun

fam

1. intelligence