rum

RUM/ɹʌm/

Pluralrums (some meanings)

8 meanings of rum

Practice

1
noununcountable
An alcoholic spirit distilled from fermented cane sugar and molasses.
The bartender mixed rum with lime juice and a little sugar.
Distillers age rum in oak barrels to deepen its color and flavor.
Note
The spirit's name has been in common use since at least 1654, and nobody is sure where it came from. One theory traces it to the slang rum, "fine, good", which is now thought unlikely because early rum tasted so harsh. Others see the last syllable of Latin saccharum, or a clipping of rumbullion or rumbustion. As a substance it is uncountable, as in a rum ration. Counted, it becomes a single serving or a particular brand.
2
nouncountable
An individual serving of rum, such as a glass or measure poured for one person.
After dinner, the host poured each guest a small rum.
The sailors collected their rums at the end of the watch.
Similartot, shot
3
nouncountable
A particular variety or brand of rum, distinguished by its origin, ingredients, or style.
The distillery makes a dark rum for sipping and a lighter one for cocktails.
Caribbean producers export hundreds of rums, each with its own character.

4
adjectivedatedUK
Strange or peculiar.
Something rum was going on at the warehouse, though no one could say quite what.
"But you think he's right?" "Could be. They're rum birds, all right."
1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains
Similarstrange, odd, peculiar, funny, curious
Oppositenormal, ordinary
Note
Dated British informality with a long literary life. Dickens has Charlotte call Noah "a rum creature" in Oliver Twist (1838), and in Thackeray a man is pronounced "a rum one" over the counter. It sits most naturally before people and plans, as in a rum fellow or a rum idea. It compares as rummer and rummest. Used now, it sounds deliberately old-fashioned.
5
noundatedBritishcountable
Any person or thing regarded as odd or peculiar.
The gamekeeper reckoned the new tenant a rum, what with his telescope and his midnight walks.
Even by fairground standards, the mechanical fortune-teller was a rum.
Similaroddity, eccentric, oddball, curiosity, character
Note
The adjective turned noun. Where the "strange" adjective speaks of a rum fellow, this use drops the noun and calls him simply a rum. It is dated British colloquial speech, so it suits pastiche or affectionate period color better than plain modern prose. In most current writing an odd one or a strange one says the same thing without the costume.
6
nounrareuncountable
The card game more commonly known as rummy, in which players collect and lay down matching sets of cards.
After dinner, the cousins dealt out a hand of rum.
He laid down a full set of kings and won the game of rum.
Similarrummy
Note
A clipped form of rummy, unrelated to the drink despite the identical spelling. It is rare enough that the full name is the safer choice. A hand of rummy is understood everywhere, while a game of rum invites the reader to picture a bottle on the card table.
7
adjectiveobsolete
Fine, excellent, or valuable.
Note
The word's oldest compliment comes from an earlier slang form, rome, "good", possibly of Romani origin. The same word later turned around and gave the "strange" adjective. So a phrase like having a rum time can cut either way, and only its period and context settle whether the time was splendid or merely odd. Today the approving sense is obsolete and will not be understood.
8
nounobsoletecountable or uncountable
A country parson; a clergyman serving a rural parish.
The rum rode out from the rectory each week to visit the sick of three parishes.
No company comes / But a rabble of tenants, and rusty dull rums.
1729, Jonathan Swift, The Grand Question Debated of Hamilton's Bawn
Note
Clerical slang long out of use, preserved where Jonathan Swift left it. In The Grand Question Debated of Hamilton's Bawn (1729) a dull household receives "a rabble of tenants, and rusty dull rums", lumping the rural clergy in with the tenantry as tedious company. Treat it strictly as a period word. A modern listener will hear only the drink or the adjective.

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Origins

Meanings 1–3, 8

In common use since at least 1654, but of uncertain origin. Suggested sources include the word rum meaning "fine, good," the last syllable of Latin saccharum, a shortening of rumbullion or rumbustion, a Romani word for "strong, potent," or rummer (from Dutch roemer); given the harsh taste of early rum, the saccharum theory is now thought unlikely.

Meanings 4–5, 7

From the earlier slang form rome ("good"), possibly of Romani origin; compare rom.

Meaning 6

A shortening of rummy.