mum

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableBritishinformal

   A child's or grown-up's everyday word for their mother, used in British, Irish and Commonwealth English.

   Grammar: Used like a name with no article when talking to her: Hi, Mum. Otherwise with my/your/the: my mum.

   Patterns

   • someone's mum
   • Mum and Dad

   My mum rings me every Sunday evening.

   Can Jack's mum give us a lift to the match?

   Mum, have you seen my keys?

2. 2adjectiveafter a verbinformalold-fashioned

   Keeping quiet and unwilling to reveal something that is meant to be secret.

   Grammar: Only used after a verb, mostly in the phrase keep mum: she kept mum.

   Patterns

   • keep mum about something
   • mum's the word

   The twins kept mum about the surprise party.

   He stayed mum when the manager asked who had taken the cake.

   Mum's the word until the announcement on Friday.

Word forms

Common combinations

mum and dad

Mum and dad are coming to watch my graduation.

stay-at-home mum

She was a stay-at-home mum until the youngest started school.

single mum

My neighbour is a single mum with three boys.

keep mum

Please keep mum about the trip until I tell them.

mum's the word

I will not tell anyone; mum's the word.

Synonyms and how they differ

mother

Mother is neutral and suits formal writing, while mum is warm and used in everyday speech.

mummy

Mummy is more childlike and used mainly by young children or in a tender way.

mom

Mom is the American spelling and form of the same everyday word.

silent

Silent is the general adjective, while mum is informal and means silent on purpose about a secret.

Word family

mummy noun

a child's word for mother

mum-to-be noun

a woman who is pregnant

mumsy adjective

dowdy and old-fashioned in a motherly way

grandmum noun

informal word for a grandmother

Commonly confused: mum or mom? mum or mummy?

Practice

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