Colloquial Variant guide

'm

noun · pron · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • /əm/
  • /m̩/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Represents the word madam or ma'am when used as a formal address of a female; as in yes'm and no'm.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

pron

Meaning 2

Alternative form of 'em.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

Examples

  • 1967-1969, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure I picked up two stones and threw ’m in the air, heard ’m drop

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

Am, used especially in I'm.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: clitic

Examples

  • What'm I gon' do?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

Various forms of be.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: clitic, dialectal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Contraction of madam/ma'am. Typologically compare Russian -с (-s).

Contraction of am.