From Middle English gom, gome, gomme, goome, gum, gume, gumme, from Old English gōma (“palate”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōmō, from Proto-Germanic *gaumô, *gōmô (“palate”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- (“to gape, yawn”). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian gaumo (“palate”), German Gaum, Gaumen (“palate”), Luxembourgish Gomm, Gumm (“palate”), Yiddish גומען (gumen, “palate”), Danish gumme (“gums”), Icelandic gómur (“gum”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish gom (“palate”); also Latin hio (“to gape, yawn”), Ancient Greek χάσκω (kháskō, “to gape, yawn”), Lithuanian gomurỹs (“palate”), Bulgarian зе́я (zéja, “to gape”), Czech zát, zet (“to gape”), Polish ziać (“to pant”), Russian зия́ть (zijátʹ, “to gape, yawn”), Serbo-Croatian зи́јати, zíjati (“to gape, yawn”), Ukrainian зя́яти (zjájaty, “to gape”), Tocharian A koy- (“mouth”), Tocharian B koyn (“mouth”). More at yawn.
1
To chew, especially of a toothless person or animal.
2
To deepen and enlarge the spaces between the teeth of (a worn saw), as with a gummer.
gum
noun
Etymology From Middle English gomme, gumme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman gome, from Late Latin gumma, from Latin cummi, gummi, from Ancient Greek κόμμι (kómmi), from Egyptian qmy (“anointing oil”), qmyt (“acanthus resin, gum”). Cognate with Spanish goma (“rubber”). Doublet of gumma.
Biochemistry, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Microbiology, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A viscous water-soluble carbohydrate exudate of certain plants that hardens when it becomes dry, or such a substance as a component of a plant exudate.
gum arabic
gum-oleo-resin
2
Any viscous or sticky substance resembling the true gum.
gum benzoin
[…] becoomed wi' the gum o' the coal-hill […]1833, John Kennedy, Geordie Chalmers; or, the Law in Glenbuckie, page 205:
3
Chewing gum.
4
A single piece of chewing gum.
Do you have a gum to spare?
Levi unwrapped a gum and put it in his mouth.2005, Zadie Smith, On Beauty, Penguin Books (2006), page 388:
Etymology From Middle English gomme, gumme, borrowed from Anglo-Norman gome, from Late Latin gumma, from Latin cummi, gummi, from Ancient Greek κόμμι (kómmi), from Egyptian qmy (“anointing oil”), qmyt (“acanthus resin, gum”). Cognate with Spanish goma (“rubber”). Doublet of gumma.
1
Sometimes, With up To apply an adhesive or gum to; to make sticky by applying a sticky substance to.
However, Albert said in his audiotape and in his speech that a lever designed to release the lifeboat's block and tackle was gummed up with red paint.2012, Julie Hedgepeth Williams, A Rare Titanic Family: The Caldwells' Story of Survival, →ISBN, page 184:
2
To stiffen with glue or gum.
He frets like a gummed velvet.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
3
Sometimes, With together To inelegantly attach into a sequence.
It consists in gumming together long strips of words [that] have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug.1946, George Orwell, Politics and the English Language:
4
Colloquial, With up To impair the functioning of a thing or process.
That cheap oil will gum up the engine valves.
The new editor can gum up your article with too many commas.