pron
Meaning 1
Them (now only in unstressed position).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Colloquial Variant guide
'em
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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əm
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/əm/
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[əm]
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[m̩]
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[ɪm]
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[ɛm]
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
History
Etymology
From earlier hem, from Middle English hem, from Old English heom (“them”, dative) of hie, originally a dative plural form but in Middle English coming to serve as an accusative plural as well. Cognate with Dutch hun (“them”), German ihnen (“them”). Now often treated as a colloquial apheretic form of them, which however derives from Old Norse rather than Old English.