# hump

> English word · Noun · IPA /hʌmp/ · frequency rank #18,103

## Definitions
1. A mound of earth.
2. A speed bump or speed hump.
3. A deformity in humans caused by abnormal curvature of the upper spine.
4. A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.
5. An act of sexual intercourse.
6. A bad mood.
7. A painfully boorish person.
8. A wave that forms in front of an operating hovercraft and impedes progress at low speeds.

## Etymology
Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”). Compare Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb-, *ḱewb- (unnasalised root), and English hub (a softened variant without nasal?).
Cognate with West Frisian hompe (“lump, chunk”), Icelandic huppur (“flank”), Welsh cwm (“a hollow”), Latin incumbō (“to lie down”), Albanian sumbull (“round button, bud”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”), Avestan 𐬑𐬎𐬨𐬠𐬀 (xumba, “pot”), Sanskrit कुम्ब (kúmba, “thick end of bone”). Replaced, and perhaps influenced by, Old English crump (“crooked, bent”). More at cramp.

## Easily confused with
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hut)
- **hun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hun)
- **Hur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hur)
- **Hus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hus)
- **Huw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-huw)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hurt)
- **hunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hunt)
- **hung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hung)
- **hymn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hymn)
- **hush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hush)
- **huts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-huts)
- **hunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hunk)
- **Hurd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hurd)
- **hurl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hurl)
- **Huns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-huns)
- **husk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-husk)
- **Hutt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hutt)
- **Hutu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-hutu)
- **humps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-humps)
- **humpty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hump-vs-humpty)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hhump`, `hmup`, `hummp`, `humpp`, `hupm`, `uhmp`

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