Ahem

Part of speech: interjection

Pronunciation: /əˈhɛm/

Definitions

1. A vocal sound produced to gain the attention of others or to indicate discomfort with ongoing noise
2. A brief vocal noise used to catch someone's notice or signal unease with current sounds
3. A clearing throat sound made to draw focus or show irritation with nearby noise

Etymology: "Ahem" is onomatopoeic: it imitates the sound of a deliberate throat-clearing, the small cough people make to signal that they are about to speak or want attention. The spelling reproduces the sound itself, with the initial vowel and the soft "h" followed by the nasal "m" that closes the noise. The interjection is recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary, which treats it as both an interjection and a noun, meaning the sound itself as well as the act of making it. Because it imitates a human noise rather than descending from an older word, it has no Latin or Greek ancestry to trace, and its history is largely the history of how English writers chose to spell a sound that has no fixed form.

Synonyms: cough, hem, hmm