Mahmum
/məˈmuːm/noun
Feverish or afflicted with fever; an obsolete English adjective borrowed from Arabic.
Did you know?Mahmum derives from Arabic maḥmūm, the passive participle of a verb meaning “to be hot” or “to have a fever,” linking bodily heat with the ancient hammam tradition.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*ḥ-m-m
“To be hot or warm; a reconstructed Semitic root associated with heat.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ḥamma
“To become hot or feverish; to have a fever.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
maḥmūm
“Feverish, fever-stricken; literally, made hot or afflicted by fever.”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
ḥammām
“A heated bathing place or bathhouse, formed from the same root of heat.”
17th–19th Century
English
mahmum
“Feverish; an uncommon or obsolete English loanword.”
Modern English
English
mahmum
“An archaic term meaning feverish or afflicted with fever.”