mum

or mumm

[ muhm ]

/ mʌm /

verb (used without object), mummed, mum·ming.

to say “mum”; call for silence.

to act as a mummer.

Words nearby mum

multiwall, multiwindow, multnomah falls, multum in parvo, multure, mum, mum's the word, mum-and-dad investor, mumbai, mumble, mumbletypeg

Origin of mum

1350–1400; Middle English mommen, v. use of mum¹; compare Middle Dutch mommen to act the mummer's part

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for mumming

Your company is like to be increased, sir; some neighbours, that heard your fiddles, are come a mumming to you.
Dryden's Works Vol. 3 (of 18)|John Dryden
One is apt to find his deepest philosophy tucked away in some corner of a discourse on cheese or mumming or penny dreadfuls.
Six Major Prophets|Edwin Emery Slosson
This is the soul of Mumming; the ostentatious secrecy of men in disguise.
A Miscellany of Men|G. K. Chesterton
She had to begin somewhere, and to play at the New Theatre was not like playing in an inn yard or mumming booth.
Madame Flirt|Charles E. Pearce

But the main excellence of the Mumming Play lies still, I think, in its uproarious secrecy.
A Miscellany of Men|G. K. Chesterton

British Dictionary definitions for mumming (1 of 4)

mum¹

/ (mʌm) /

noun

mainly British an informal word for mother 1

Word Origin for mum

C19: a child's word

British Dictionary definitions for mumming (2 of 4)

mum²

/ (mʌm) /

adjective

keeping information to oneself; silent

noun

mum's the word silence or secrecy is to be observed

Word Origin for mum

C14: suggestive of closed lips

British Dictionary definitions for mumming (3 of 4)

mum³

mumm

/ (mʌm) /

verb mums, mumming or mummed

(intr) to act in a mummer's play

Word Origin for mum

C16: verbal use of mum ²

British Dictionary definitions for mumming (4 of 4)

mum⁴

/ (mʌm) /

noun

British obsolete a type of beer made from cereals, beans, etc

Word Origin for mum

C17: from German Mumme, perhaps from the name of its original brewer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012