mump
/mʌmp/verb
mump is spelled M-U-M-P: 4 letters. It appears about once in every 50 million words in written English, the 220,118th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, mump means “To mumble, speak unclearly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in mump?
| Letters | 4: M-U-M-P |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 50 million words; the 220,118th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is mump?
Mump appears about once in every 50 million words in written English, the 220,118th 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 mump?
- /mʌmp/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mump.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mump
- mumps present, singular, he/she/it
- mumping participle, present
- mumped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mump mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To mumble, speak unclearly.
- 2
To move the lips with the mouth closed; to mumble, as in sulkiness.
- 3
To beg, especially if using a repeated phrase.
- 4
To deprive of (something) by cheating; to impose upon.
- 5
To cheat; to deceive; to play the beggar.
- 6
To be sullen or sulky.
- 7
To nibble.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA grimace.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does mump come from?
Perhaps borrowed through obsolete Dutch mompen (“to cheat, swindle, deceive”), according to Kroonen, a derivative of Proto-Germanic *mump- (“to stain”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *mm̥bʰ-neh₂- Also akin to German mimpfeln (“to mumble”), Icelandic mumpa (“to take into the mouth”). See also English mum. While Kroonen claims Ancient Greek μέμφομαι (mémphomai, “I blame, accuse”) and the Germanic forms are reconcilable and related, Beekes rejects this, stating that Germanic -p- cannot here correspond to Greek -φ- and that this etymological connection is not widely considered reliable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).