am
[ am; unstressed uhm, m ]
/ æm; unstressed əm, m /
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verb
1st person singular present indicative of be.
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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.
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Origin of am
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English am, eam, eom; cognate with Gothic im, Old Norse, Armenian em, Old Irish am (from unattested esmi ), Attic Greek eimí, Aeolic Greek émmi, Doric Greek ēmí (all from prehistoric Greek esmi ), Hittite esmi, early Lithuanian esmì, Old Church Slavonic yesmĭ, Albanian jam (from unattested esmi ), Sanskrit ásmi, from unattested Proto-Indo-European ésmi, from root es- “to be” + -m 1st person singular + -i, present-time marker; cf. is
Words nearby am
Definition for am (2 of 7)
Am
Symbol, Chemistry.
americium.
Definition for am (3 of 7)
AM
abbreviation
Electronics.amplitude modulation: a method of impressing a signal on a radio carrier wave by varying its amplitude.
Radio. a system of broadcasting by means of amplitude modulation.
of, relating to, or utilizing such a system.Compare FM
Asian male.
Origin of AM
First recorded in 1935–40
Definition for am (4 of 7)
a.m.
abbreviation
before noon.
the period from midnight to noon, especially the period of daylight prior to noon: Shall we meet Saturday a.m.?
a morning newspaper, sometimes issued shortly before midnight.
Compare p.m.
Origin of a.m.
From Latin ante merīdiem
usage note for a.m.
The abbreviation a.m. for Latin ante merīdiem, meaning “before noon,” refers to the period from midnight until noon. One minute before noon is 11:59 a.m. One minute after noon is 12:01 p.m. Many people distinguish between noon and midnight by saying 12 noon and 12 midnight. Expressions combining a.m. with morning ( 6 a.m. in the morning ) and p.m. with afternoon, evening, or night ( 9 p.m. at night ) are redundant and occur most often in casual speech and writing. Both a.m. and p.m. sometimes appear in capital letters, especially in printed matter.
Definition for am (5 of 7)
A/m
ampere per meter.
Definition for am (6 of 7)
Am.
abbreviation
America.
American.
Definition for am (7 of 7)
Origin of A.M.
(def. 2) from Latin Artium Magister
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for am
British Dictionary definitions for am (1 of 8)
Word Origin for am
Old English eam; related to Old Norse em, Gothic im, Old High German bim, Latin sum, Greek eimi, Sanskrit asmi
British Dictionary definitions for am (2 of 8)
British Dictionary definitions for am (3 of 8)
am3
the internet domain name for
Armenia
British Dictionary definitions for am (4 of 8)
Am
the chemical symbol for
americium
British Dictionary definitions for am (5 of 8)
AM
abbreviation for
British Dictionary definitions for am (6 of 8)
a.m.
A.M., am or AM
abbreviation for (indicating the time period from midnight to midday)
ante meridiemCompare p.m.
Word Origin for a.m.
Latin: before noon
British Dictionary definitions for am (7 of 8)
Am.
abbreviation for
America(n)
British Dictionary definitions for am (8 of 8)
A/M
abbreviation for (in Canada)
Air Marshal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Medical definitions for am
Am
The symbol for the elementamericium
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Scientific definitions for am (1 of 2)
Am
The symbol for americium.
Scientific definitions for am (2 of 2)
AM
Abbreviation of amplitude modulation
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.