fam

Symbol

fam

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Fam.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Fam terms

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.

Anagrams

• AFM, AMF, FMA, MAF, MFA

Noun

fam (plural befam)

1. man (adult male human)

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

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.

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

Verb

fam

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

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.

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

Etymology

From French femme (“woman”).

Noun

fam

1. woman

References

• Albert Valdman, Dictionary of Louisiana Creole

Etymology

From French femme.

Noun

fam

1. (derogatory) woman

References

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

Noun

fam

1. Alternative form of fom

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Noun

fam m (uncountable)

1. hunger

Alternative forms

• fǣm

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *faimaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɑːm/

Noun

fām n

1. foam

Noun

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

1. Alternative form of fame

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.

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Latin famēs.

Noun

fam f (usually uncountable)

1. (Puter) hunger

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vam/

Noun

fam

1. Soft mutation of mam.

Mutation

Etymology

Related to Persian فهم (fahm).

Noun

fam

1. intelligence