Warm

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Pronunciation: /wɔːm/

Definitions

1. Pleasant moderate heat that is comfortable and soothing to the touch or body
2. A pleasant and moderate level of heat that induces comfort and well-being while suggesting a friendly or affectionate atmosphere
3. Having a temperature that is moderately high and soothing without being hot ; expressing a friendly or affectionate attitude toward others

Etymology: Warm is one of the oldest words in English, and its ancestry runs back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to burn." Its Old English form, "wearm," was already in use before the Norman Conquest, and it has cognates across the Germanic family, including Dutch "warm," German "warm," and Swedish "varm." Scholars disagree about whether its earliest ancestor came from the "to burn" root or from a sibling root meaning "warm, hot," which also gave Ancient Greek "thermós" and Sanskrit "gharmá." If the second option is right, the English word and the familiar "thermos" are distant relatives, sharing an ancestor with a meaning of heat. The verb "warm," meaning to make or become warm, came later, in Middle English as "warmen" or "wermen." It grew from two Old English verbs: "wiermian" meant "to make warm," while "wearmian" meant "to become warm." Both were built on the adjective's root, and the verb's German and Swedish relatives, "wärmen" and "värma," show the same pattern across the family.

Synonyms: hot, heated, friendly, cozy, balmy

Antonyms: cold, cool, chilly, frosty, aloof