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PlainSpell

drum

/ˈdɹʌm/noun, verb

drum is spelled D-R-U-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, drum means “A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber; a membranophone” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of drum is drums.

How many letters and syllables are in drum?

Letters4: D-R-U-M
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is drum?

Drum appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce drum?

  • /ˈdɹʌm/
  • /ˈdɹʊm/

Drum has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-drum.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_drum.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of drum

  • drums plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • drumming participle, present
  • drummed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does drum mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber; a membranophone.

    He's playing the piano and she's playing the drums!

  2. 2

    Any similar hollow, cylindrical object.

    Replace the drum unit of your printer.

  3. 3

    A barrel or large cylindrical container for liquid transport and storage.

    The restaurant ordered ketchup in 50-gallon drums.

  4. 4

    USSynonym of construction barrel.

  5. 5

    The encircling wall that supports a dome or cupola.

  6. 6

    Any of the cylindrical blocks that make up the shaft of a pillar.

  7. 7

    A drumfish (family Sciaenidae).

  8. 8

    AustraliaslangA tip; a piece of information.

  9. 9

    A social gathering or assembly held in the evening.

    Another misfortune which befel poor Sophia, was the company of Lord Fellamar, whom she met at the opera, and who attended her to the drum.

  10. 10

    UKslangA person's home; a house or other building, especially when insalubrious; a tavern, a brothel.

  11. 11

    informalA drumstick (of chicken, turkey, etc).

  12. 12

    archaicA small hill or ridge of hills.

verb

  1. 1

    To beat a drum.

  2. 2

    To beat with a rapid succession of strokes.

    The ruffed grouse drums with his wings.

  3. 3

    To drill or review in an attempt to establish memorization.

    He’s still trying to drum Spanish verb conjugations into my head.

  4. 4

    To throb, as the heart.

  5. 5

    To go about, as a drummer does, to gather recruits, to draw or secure partisans, customers, etc.; used with for.

  6. 6

    Of various animals, to make a vocalisation or mechanical sound that resembles drumming.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Drum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtambour, batterie (musical instrument), cylindre (hollow, cylindrical object), tonneau, baril (barrel etc. for liquid)
GermanTrommel (musical instrument), Fass (barrel etc. for liquid), trommeln (to beat a drum), einpauken, einbläuen (to review to establish memorization)
Portuguesetambor (musical instrument), barril (barrel etc. for liquid), batucar (to beat a drum)
Spanishtambor (musical instrument), cilindro (hollow, cylindrical object), barril, bidón (barrel etc. for liquid), inculcar (to review to establish memorization), tamborear (to beat with a rapid succession of strokes)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does drum come from?

Perhaps back-formation from drumslade (“drummer”), from Middle Dutch trommelslach (“drumbeat”), from trommel (“drum”) + slach (“beat”) (Dutch slag). Or perhaps borrowed directly from a continental Germanic language; compare Middle Dutch tromme (“drum”), Middle Low German trumme (“drum”) et al. Compare also Middle High German trumme, trumbe (“drum”), Old High German trumba (“trumpet”). Compare Ancient Greek τῠ́μπᾰνον (tŭ́mpănon, “kettledrum”) whence Modern English timbre.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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