am
- 1First-person singular present indicative of be.
I am in the garage if you need me.
Am I the only one who heard that noise?
UsageUsually shortened to I'm, but the full form is needed at the end: Yes, I am (not
incorrect: Yes, I'm).Note
Everything be does in the present, am does for I alone: linking (I am tired), the progressive (I am leaving), the passive (I am told).
- 2Alternative form of a.m.: after a clock time, showing that it falls between midnight and noon.
Check-in opens at 6 AM, two hours before the first flight.
The fire alarm went off at 2:30 AM and emptied the whole building.
UsageComes after the time: 6 AM. Avoid 6 AM in the morning, which says the same thing twice.
Note
A time followed by AM falls between midnight and noon on the 12-hour clock, so 6 AM is early morning and 2:30 AM the middle of the night.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- AM times fall in the midnight-to-noon period of the 12-hour clock, including 6 AM and 2:30 AM. en.wikipedia.org
- 3Sayay-EM/ˌeɪˈɛm/Short for amplitude modulation: a way of sending radio signals by varying the strength of the carrier wave, or radio broadcast this way, as opposed to FM.
AM signals travel farther at night, so distant stations come in after dark.
The station broadcasts every home game on both AM and FM.
UsageMostly before a noun: AM radio, an AM station; or on AM.
Note
Radio's way of carrying sound in the strength of the wave: the carrier's amplitude swells and fades with the signal while its frequency holds steady, where FM varies the frequency instead.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- AM carries sound by varying the carrier wave's amplitude with the audio signal. en.wikipedia.org
- In AM, the carrier's frequency remains constant. en.wikipedia.org
- FM carries the signal by varying the carrier's frequency. documentation.meraki.com
Less common meanings
- 4Sayay-EM/ˌeɪˈɛm/The title Member of the Order of Australia, or a person who holds it.
She was appointed an AM for her work with rural hospitals.
The report was signed by Professor Helen Ward AM, honored for her service to Australian medicine.
UsagePlaced after the name, like other honors: Helen Ward AM. A person is appointed an AM.
- 5On chord charts and in other written music, the symbol Am, standing for an A minor chord.
The whole song uses just three chords: C, Am, and G.
Strum Am for two bars, then switch to F for the chorus.
UsageA lowercase m means minor: Am. A capital M, as in AM7, usually means a major seventh.
Note
The symbol names the harmony and leaves the voicing to the player, so a guitarist and a pianist reading Am will finger it quite differently.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Chord symbols specify harmony while leaving performers to choose the voicing, including guitarists and pianists. musictheory.pugetsound.edu
- 6Sayay-EM/ˌeɪˈɛm/Short for Master of Arts: a graduate degree, written AM at some universities, following the Latin word order artium magister.
She earned an AM in history before starting her doctorate.
The faculty page lists his degrees as AB, AM and PhD.
UsageMA is the more familiar form. AM goes after a name or in a list of degrees: AB, AM, PhD.
Note
The more familiar spelling of this degree is MA; AM keeps the word order of its Latin name, artium magister.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- AM preserves the word order of the Latin degree name artium magister. commencement.harvard.edu
- 7The chemical symbol for the element americium, used in formulas, tables and lab results.
Am-241 decays by emitting alpha particles, which is why ionization smoke detectors use it.
The spent fuel was tested for Pu, Am and other heavy elements.
UsageCapital A and small m, with no period or plural: Am-241.
- 8Sayay-EM/ˌeɪˈɛm/Short for additive manufacturing: making objects by building them up layer by layer from a digital design, as in 3D printing.
Before each build, technicians sieve the AM powder to remove clumps.
The supplier now makes its smaller brackets by AM instead of cutting them from solid metal.
Note
Industry's formal name for 3D printing, and the word additive is the point: a part is built up, layer on layer, from material such as metal powder, where machining cuts it away from a solid block. The letters are said one by one and usually work before a noun: AM powders, AM parts, an AM process.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Additive manufacturing is the industrial term for 3D printing and builds parts layer by layer. nist.gov
- Metal powder can be used to build parts by additive manufacturing. nist.gov
- Subtractive manufacturing removes material from a solid block. energy.gov
- 9Short for I am: used in casual writing and some dialects, with the word I left out.
Sorry, am running late, be there in ten.
Am not sure he's coming tonight, to be honest.
UsageDrops the I in quick messages: am on my way. In careful writing, keep the I.
Note
A casual and dialect shortening in which the I drops away and am carries the sentence alone: Am on my way. Am not sure. It turns up in hurried messages and in speech written down as it sounds.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Am can be an informal or dialectal contraction of I am. en.wiktionary.org
- 10Sayay-EM/ˌeɪˈɛm/Short for Assembly Member: a member of the London Assembly or, formerly, the Welsh Assembly, with AM written after the person's name.
Every AM in the chamber voted on the new transport bill.
The leaflet came from Gareth Price AM, who had represented the valley for ten years.
Note
A title from British devolved politics, still used by members of the London Assembly but dropped in Wales, where members became MSs in 2020. For a Welsh member it belongs to older news and records, while for a London Assembly member it is still the current title.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The London Assembly belongs to British devolved politics. committees.parliament.uk
- AM remains a title for a London Assembly member. lewisham.gov.uk
- Welsh Assembly members became Members of the Senedd, abbreviated MS, in 2020. senedd.wales
- 11Short for anno mundi: in the year of the world, used for years counted from the traditional date of creation, as in the Hebrew calendar.
The wedding contract is dated the fifth of Adar, 5785 AM.
The synagogue's foundation stone records its laying in 5650 AM.
UsageWritten before or after the year: AM 5785 or 5785 AM. The year number shows it is not the time of day.
Note
The year label of the Hebrew calendar, which counts from the creation of the world.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- AM labels Hebrew-calendar years reckoned from the biblical creation of the world. en.wikipedia.org
- 12Short for automated mapping: the computerized drawing of maps, paired with facilities management in AM/FM systems used to map utility networks.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
The ancestry of am is traced to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi, a reconstructed form meaning "I am, I exist." This developed into Proto-Germanic *immi, *izmi, forms of the verb "to be," followed by Old English eam, eom ("am") and Middle English am, em. Gothic im, Ancient Greek eimí and Albanian jam are related words, all meaning "am".
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- English am descends from reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi, meaning “I am, I exist.” en.wiktionary.org
- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi developed into Proto-Germanic *immi, *izmi, forms of “to be.” en.wiktionary.org
- The subsequent English forms include Old English eam, eom and Middle English am, em. en.wiktionary.org
- Gothic im is a cognate meaning “am.” en.wiktionary.org
- Ancient Greek eimí is a cognate meaning “am.” en.wiktionary.org
- Albanian jam is a cognate meaning “am.” en.wiktionary.org