Etymograph

English

fume

Fume comes from Old French fum ‘smoke, steam, vapour’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-1‘to smoke, raise dust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰuh₂mós1‘smoke’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θūmos2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fūmos2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfūmus1‘vapour, smoke’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fum1‘smoke, steam, vapour’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fume1‘Visible gaseous emanations’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606–1607fume1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fume
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin fumus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra: “Keep his brain fuming.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰewh₂-Wiktionary, English fume‘to smoke, raise dust’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰuh₂mósWiktionary, English fume‘smoke’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*θūmosWiktionary, Latin fumusreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fūmosWiktionary, Latin fumusreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfūmusWiktionary, English fume‘vapour, smoke’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400fumWiktionary, English fume‘smoke, steam, vapour’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fumeWiktionary, English fume‘Visible gaseous emanations’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606–1607fumeWiktionary, English fume. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra: “Keep his brain fuming.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- ‘to smoke, raise dust’

down, steam, dye, dew, dun, dune, duvet, dag, thymus, typhon, obfuscate, 27 more

through Latin fūmus ‘vapour, smoke’

funk, fumigation, 14 more

Today it means

noun A gas or vapour/vapor that is strong-smelling or dangerous to inhale.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fume”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fumus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- / fume

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