Aum or om?
aum is a noun meaning “Alternative form of om (“mystical syllable”)”; om is a noun meaning “A sacred, mystical syllable used in prayer and meditation”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) om is about 8.9 times as common as aum.
What is the difference between aum and om?
| aum | om | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb, prefix |
| Meaning | Alternative form of om (“mystical syllable”) Alternative form of aam | A sacred, mystical syllable used in prayer and meditation To chant the sacred syllable om |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | aums | oms |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ɒm/ /əʊm/ /oʊm/ |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words | 3.5 times per million words |
Sources: aum and om in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of aum and om
aum
- 1
Alternative form of om (“mystical syllable”)
- 2
Alternative form of aam
- 3
Initialism of assets under management
om
- 1
A sacred, mystical syllable used in prayer and meditation
- 2
To chant the sacred syllable om
- 3
Initialism of outer marker
- 4
Alternative form of omo- (“shoulder”)
- 5
Initialism of otitis media
- 6
Initialism of old measurement
- 7
Initialism of old man (term of address for a male)
- 8
Initialism of operations manager
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, aum or om?
aum appears about once in every 3 million words; om 3.5 times per million words.
aum about once in every 3 million wordsom 3.5 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).