Translation
to catch a cold
Word origin
Built inside Esperanto from mal- (the opposite of) plus varma (warm) plus -um, the suffix with no fixed meaning. Varma comes from German warm, so the whole word is a Germanic root wrapped in two Esperanto affixes.
- Origin
- Esperanto affixation on German warm
- Root
- mal- + varma + -um
- English cognates
- warm
Examples
, .
If you do not wear a coat, you will catch a cold.
.
I caught a cold in the winter.
, .
He stayed in bed because he had caught a cold.
The -um here is doing the thing the -um article warns you about: it is not derivable. does not mean to be cold, or to make something cold - it means to come down with a cold, the illness. Hold it apart from its neighbours: i is to cool something down, i is to grow cold, is simply to be cold to the touch. The noun is o, a cold, and a describes the sniffly state. English hides the same ambiguity behind one word, so the Esperanto set is arguably clearer once you have learned it.
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malvarmumi: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "malvarmumi" (to catch a cold): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 30.