mum

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adjective

Temporarily unable or unwilling to speak, as from shock or fear: dumb, inarticulate, mute, silent, speechless, voiceless, wordless. See words.

The word ‘mumming’ causes confusion, as it can refer to a number of relatively distinct customs, and many visiting custom have borne the name, but by far the most widespread is the mumming play (see below). In late medieval times, it was the fashion amongst the nobility to stage elaborate ‘mummings’ which involved dressing up or disguising, such as wearing dragon, peacock, and swan heads, or dressing as angels. Other reports show that it was not only at court that people liked to disguise themselves at Christmas, and there were several occasions when attempts were made to ban mummings and disguisings to prevent masked young men roaming the streets getting up to mischief. A New Year custom, apparently confined to the Yorkshire area, involved parties of disguised people entering people's houses on New Year's Eve, without knocking as the doors had generally been left unlocked. The residents had to guess their identity, and once they did so offered food and drink to the visitors before they moved on to another house. The custom was almost exactly the same as that which is still going strong (also called mumming or mummering) in Newfoundland. ‘At Wakefield and Stanby (Yorkshire) the mummers enter a house, and if it be in a foul state they proceed to sweep the hearth, and clean the kitchen range, humming all the time “Mum-m-m”’ (Henderson, 1866: 54). In Barton, Cambridgeshire, up to about 1914, boys with blackened faces, calling themselves ‘mummers’, paraded the village singing a verse which has echoes from the mumming play (Porter, 1974: 72); and, in addition, some Christmas Eve carol-singers in the West Riding of Yorkshire were also called mummers, as were those who carried the wassail cup around in the Cleveland area.

Bibliography
The full bibliography list is available here.

• Eric Sunderland, ‘The New Year Mummers’, Dalesman (Jan. 1995), 61
• Wright and Lones, 1940: iii. 224
• Hutton, 1996: 11-12

adjective
adjective

1: Saying nothing; silent. (c.1530 —) .

2: mum's the word say nothing. (1663 —) .

[Imitative of closed lips.]

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For a list of words related to mum, see:

• Names and Relationships - mum: Chiefly Brit. child’s name for mother
• Sound, Hearing, and Deafness - mum: (adj) silent
• Introverted, Reserved, Isolated, or Mysterious
• Secrecy and Concealment - mum: (adj) silent; kept secret

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See words rhyming with "mumming."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Mum.

Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - mor

2.
adj. - stille
int. - mor!

idioms:

• keep mum    tie stille, hold tand for tunge
• mum's the word    holde tand for tunge, sige ingenting

3.
v. intr. - spille med i pantomime

4.
n. - [bot.] krysantemum

5.
n. - mumme (stærk øltype)

6.
n. - frue

Nederlands (Dutch)
mama, chrysant, stilzwijgen, Brunswijks, stil

Français (French)
1.
n. - (GB) maman

2.
adj. - muet
int. - Hum (excl) (de doute/de réticence)

idioms:

• keep mum    se taire, ne pas piper mot
• mum's the word    motus et bouche cousue

3.
v. intr. - (Théât) jouer dans les mimes masqués traditionnels

4.
n. - (abrév) de chrysanthème

5.
n. - sorte de bière allemande très forte

6.
n. - Madame

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Mama

2.
adj. - leise, ruhig
int. - nichts verraten!, den Mund halten

idioms:

• keep mum    den Mund halten
• mum's the word    nicht weitersagen

3.
v. - in einer traditionellen Pantomime auftreten, sich vermummen

4.
n. - Chrysantheme

5.
n. - Mumme

6.
n. - Madame

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μητέρα, μαμά(κα)
adj. - σιωπηλός, άφωνος
v. - μιμούμαι

idioms:

• keep mum    δεν βγάζω άχνα
• mum's the word    τσιμουδιά! λέξη σε κανένα! το στόμα σου κλειστό!

Italiano (Italian)
mamma, zitto, mimare

idioms:

• keep mum    star zitto
• mum's the word    acqua in bocca

Português (Portuguese)
n. - mamãe (f)
adj. - calado
v. - pantomimar

idioms:

• keep mum    guardar silêncio
• mum's the word    bico calado

Русский (Russian)
молчание, мама, "мадам", крепкое пиво, молчаливый, участвовать в пантомиме

idioms:

• keep mum    помалкивать
• mum's the word    это секрет

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - mamá, mamaíta, mamita, silencioso

2.
adj. - silencioso

idioms:

• keep mum    silencio!
• mum's the word    ¡punto en boca!

3.
v. intr. - disfrazarse, hacer pantomima

4.
n. - crisantemo

5.
n. - cerveza fuerte alemana

6.
n. - madam, señora

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - mamma, mumma
adj. - tyst
v. - klä ut sig, spela pantomim

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 无言的, 别说话!

idioms:

• keep mum    保持缄默
• mum's the word    别多话, 别声张, 保密

2. 化装, 参加化装舞会

3. 菊花

4. 妈咪

5. 马姆酒

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 馬姆酒

2.
v. intr. - 化裝, 參加化裝舞會

3.
n. - 媽咪

4.
n. - 菊花

5.
adj. - 無言的
int. - 別說話!

idioms:

• keep mum    保持緘默
• mum's the word    別多話, 別聲張, 保密

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 엄마

2.
adj. - 조용한
int. - 잠자코 있어!

idioms:

• keep mum    침묵을 지키다

3.
v. intr. - 닥쳐!

4.
n. - 국화

5.
n. - 독일 맥주의 일종

6.
n. - 부인

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 黙っている
n. - お母さん, キク, 沈黙

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ماما, أماه (صفه) سكوت, صمت (فعل) يسكت‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אמא‬
adj. - ‮דומם, שותק‬
int. - ‮שתוק!, אל תאמר דבר!‬
v. intr. - ‮שיחק פנטומימה בסגנון מסורתי, עם מסכה‬
n. - ‮חרצית (פרח)‬
n. - ‮סוג של בירה מרה (גרמניה)‬
n. - ‮גברת (בריטניה)‬

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