wantum

English

Etymology 1

Eye dialect for want 'em.

Verb

wantum

1. (imitating broken English) To want.
   • 1998, Arthur W. Upfield, The Bone is Pointed, →ISBN, page 82:

     Then he have wongie along Sargint in office feller. White blackfeller wantum know 'bout old Sarah, an' Sargint he tellum she goodoh.

   • 2003, Thomas Burke, More Limehouse Nights, →ISBN, page 126:

     Oh, ah — er — me wantum Chinkie just come in.

   • 2009, Richard M. Dixon, Choosing Sides, →ISBN, page 166:

     “You wantum eat? You wantum sleep? If you wantum eat you wakum up.”

Etymology 2

Blend of want +‎ quantum, coined by Nobel-winning Irish writer Samuel Beckett.

Noun

wantum (plural wantums)

1. A quantifiable deficiency or desire
   • 1938, Samuel Beckett, Murphy:

     Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.

   • 1993, Harold N. Boris, Passions of the Mind: Unheard Melodies, →ISBN:

     A projection of “Wantum” requires, in the Couple, a reciprocal agreement on the part of the other to allow more than his own portion of Wantum to be discovered in him or herself.

   • 2004, Anthony Uhlmann, Sjef Houppermans, Bruno Clément, After Beckett, →ISBN, page 249:

     To use Wylie's phraseology: the quantum of this particular discursive wantum cannot vary.

   • 2014, Gregory Benford, Gregory Benford SF Gateway Omnibus: Artifact, Cosm, Eater, →ISBN:

     The desire to find something could provoke what she called 'wantum mechanics,' fishing a result out of nothing but noise.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvan.tum/, [ˈvän̪t̪um]

Noun

wantum

1. accusative singular of wantus