# hum

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhʌm/ · frequency rank #13,172

## Definitions
1. A hummed tune, i.e. created orally with lips closed.
2. An often indistinct sound resembling human humming.
3. Busy activity, like the buzz of a beehive.
4. Unpleasant odour.
5. An imposition or hoax; humbug.
6. A kind of strong drink.
7. A phenomenon, or collection of phenomena, involving widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people.

## Etymology
From Middle English hummen (“to hum, buzz, drone, make a murmuring sound to cover embarrassment”); akin to Dutch hommelen (“to bumble, buzz”), dialectal Dutch hommen (“to buzz, hum”), Middle High German hummen (“to hum”), probably ultimately of imitative origin.

## Easily confused with
- **hv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hv)
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hut)
- **hun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hun)
- **hwy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hwy)
- **hye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hye)
- **Hur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hur)
- **Hus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hus)
- **Huw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-huw)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hurt)
- **hunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hunt)
- **hung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hung)
- **hymn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hymn)
- **hush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hush)
- **Hyun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hyun)
- **hump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hump)
- **Hume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hume)
- **huts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-huts)
- **hunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hunk)
- **Hurd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hurd)
- **hurl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hum-vs-hurl)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hum