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• IM
  IM

  noun

  instant message.
• I'm
  I'm

  contraction of I am.
• im-
  im-

  variant of in- before b, m, p: imbrute; immigrate; impassion.
• -im
  -im

  a plural ending occurring in loanwords from Hebrew.
• im
  im

  abbreviation

  Isle of Man

IM

¹ American  

[ahy-em] / ˈaɪˈɛm /

noun

IMs, plural IM's plural

1. instant message.

2. instant messaging.

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verb (used without object)

IM'd, IMed, IM'ing, IMing

1. instant message.

IM ² American  

abbreviation

1. Swimming. individual medley.

2. Sports. intramural.

3. Also I.M. Isle of Man.

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I'm ³ American  

[ahym] / aɪm /

1. contraction of I am.

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im- ⁴ American  

1. variant of in- before b, m, p: imbrute; immigrate; impassion.

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im- ⁵ American  

1. variant of in- before b, m, p: imbalance; immoral; imperishable.

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im- ⁶ American  

1. variant of in- before b, m, p: imbed; immure; impose.

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-im ⁷ American  

1. a plural ending occurring in loanwords from Hebrew.

   cherubim.

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IM ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. computing instant messaging

2. Also: i.m..  intramuscular

3. chess International Master

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I'm ² British  

/ aɪm /

contraction

1. I am

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im- ³ British  

prefix

1. a variant of in- 1 in- 2

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im ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. Isle of Man

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Usage

See contraction.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• IM's
  plural
• IMs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of IM¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Origin of -im⁷

From Hebrew

Example Sentences

The sheriff listened with a distracted look on his face, but when I said I was going to see the judge, he agreed to move the child into a protected area im- mediately.

From MSNBC • Oct. 22, 2014

Penn keeps you wondering whether he's going to im- or explode.

From Time Magazine Archive

During his childhood in San Francisco, he and his father, a railroad man with a passion for the tenor sax, would im- provise hymns at Presbyterian Sunday school.

From Time Magazine Archive

The im- pression of critics was that the group performed well, that opera in English could be sung intelligibly, that the University of Rochester maintained an advanced school of music.

From Time Magazine Archive

This prefix thus appears as am-, an-, em-, en-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, as ambush, anoint, embrace, enclose, illude, immure, include, irritate.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

Related Words

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