asam

Etymology

From Malay asam, masam, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qaləsəm.

• The sense “a chemical compound” is a semantic loan from Dutch zuur (“acid”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈasam/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: asam
• Rhymes: -am

Adjective

asam (superlative terasam)

1. Having a sour, acid, acidic, sharp or tangy taste.

   Synonym: masam

2. (figurative) sourfaced

   Synonyms: cemberut, masam

   Antonym: cerah

3. (chemistry) acidic: of or pertaining to an acid.

Noun

asam (plural asam-asam)

1. tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
   1. the tree.
   2. the fruit of this tree; the pulp is used as spice in Asian cooking and in Worcestershire sauce.
2. sour

   Synonym: masam

3. (chemistry) acid
   1. any of a class of water-soluble compounds, having sour taste, that turn blue litmus red, and react with some metals to liberate hydrogen, and with bases to form salts.
   2. any compound that easily donates protons; a Brønsted acid
   3. any compound that can accept a pair of electrons to form a covalent bond; a Lewis acid

Usage notes

In Indonesian, there are three nearly identical terms of asam, asem, and masam. The word masam is mainly used for sourfaced sense. In the Standard Malay, the prevalent terms is masam with presence of asam as alternative form. The Standard Malay masam has similar senses as in Indonesia with exception of chemistry sense of acid which is asid in Standard Malay. Although asid is listed in Indonesian, it is rarely used.

Alternative forms

• masam (Indonesian and Standard Malay)
• asem

Synonyms

• (chemistry): asid (Indonesian and Standard Malay)

Derived terms

Further reading

• “asam” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Etymology

From Middle Irish asum.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /ˈɑsˠəmˠ/
• (Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /ˈasˠəmˠ/

Pronoun

asam (emphatic asamsa)

1. first-person singular of as

   Ní fhuair siad freagra asam. ― They didn’t get an answer from me.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “asam”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “7 a”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Sjoestedt, M. L. (1938) Description d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Description of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ancienne Honoré Champion, page 95
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “asam”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “asam”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Noun

āsam

1. accusative singular of āsa

Adjective

asam

1. dative singular masculine of ass

Etymology

• From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qaləsəm.

Adjective

asam (Jawi spelling اسم)

1. sour

   Synonym: masam

Noun

asam (Jawi spelling اسم, plural asam-asam, informal 1st possessive asamku, 2nd possessive asammu, 3rd possessive asamnya)

1. sour foods

   asam garam ― sour salted foods

Descendants

• Indonesian: asam
• → Min Nan: 亞森／亚森 (a-som, “tamarind”)

Further reading

• “asam” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Verb

asam

1. third-person plural present indicative of asar

Noun

asam

1. door

References

• Kevin M. Roddy, A Sketch Grammar of Satawalese, The Language of Satawal Island, Yap State, Micronesia (2007)

Etymology

From Old Irish asum. Cognates include Irish asam and Manx assym.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈas̪əm/
• Hyphenation: a‧sam
• Rhymes: -am

Pronoun

asam

1. first-person singular of à: from me

   Cha d' fhuair iad freagairt asam. ― They didn't get an answer from me.

References

• Colin Mark (2003) “à”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 2

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔaˈsam/ [ʔɐˈsam]
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: a‧sam

Noun

asám (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜐᜋ᜔)

1. longing; eager anticipation

   Synonym: pananabik

Anagrams

• masa, amas, sama

Pronunciation

• (Sinūgan Parianun) IPA^(key): /ʔasam/ [ʔɑˈsam]
• Rhymes: -am
• Syllabification: a‧sam

Noun

asam (Sulat Sūg spelling اَسَمْ)

1. tamarind