smeddum

English

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smeddum

Where it comes from

From earlier smitham, smytham, from Middle English smedma, from Old English smedma, smeodema, smedema (“fine flour, pollen meal, meal”).

noun smitham · smithum · smiddum

uncountable Fine powder; flour.
uncountable The powder or finest part of ground malt.
uncountable Smitham.
Scotland, uncountable Zest, energy; pluck; sagacity; quickness of apprehension; gumption; spirit; mettle. “Don’t like the name, don’t like it. There’s no smeddum to it. Besides, it makes me think of my Aunt Jinny. She called her three girls Faith, Hope, and Charity. Faith didn’t believe in anything—Hope was a born pessimist—and Charity was a miser.[…]”
Northern England, UK, dialectal, uncountable Ore small enough to pass through the wire bottom of a sieve.
Northern England, UK, dialectal, uncountable A layer of clay or shale between two beds of coal.

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MLA

"smeddum." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/smeddum. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

smeddum. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/smeddum

Chicago

"smeddum." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/smeddum.

BibTeX

@misc{smeddum_2026,
  title = {smeddum},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/smeddum},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}