BM

See also: .bm, Bm, bm, bm., and bm-

Translingual

Symbol

BM

1. (international standards) ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code for Bermuda.

   Synonym: BMU (alpha-3)

English

Noun

BM (countable and uncountable, plural BMs)

1. (euphemistic, chiefly Canada, US) Initialism of bowel movement.
   • 1911, Journal of the National Medical Association:

     Frequent involuntary urination. Frequent desire for B.M. but no result.

   • 2017, Sheila A. Sorrentino, Leighann N. Remmert, Mosby’s Textbook for Nursing Assistants, 9th edition, St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier, →ISBN, page 424:

     Mr. Jansen stated that he had a medium-sized, soft, formed, brown BM after breakfast today.

2. Initialism of black metal.
   • 2000, NivendE, “black doom hybrids”, in alt.music.black-metal (Usenet):

     They used to play Burzumesque BM, but moved on to a Doomy sound.

3. (video games) Initialism of bad manners. Behaviour which shows disrespect to an opponent.
   • 2014, Doug Hendrie, AmalgaNations: How Globalisation Is Good:

     Fans know IdrA for his BM — Bad Manners.

4. (military, astronautics) Initialism of ballistic missile.
5. (uncountable, Malaysia) Initialism of Bahasa Melayu or initialism of Bahasa Malaysia.
   • 2017 July 3, “‘Medical grads with O Level need only take SPM BM’”, in The Star‎^[1], →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 July 2017:

     Bahasa Melayu is the national language and the official language of the Federation, said Dr Noor Hisham. Therefore, one of the entry requirements  […] is a pass in BM subject at SPM level or equivalent.

   • 2018 July 14, Ibrahim Isa, quoting Maszlee Malik, “Education Ministry proposes weekly BM and English days”, in The New Straits Times‎^[2], →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 January 2019:

      […] on “National Language Day”, Bahasa Malaysia will be used  […] Thursday will be made the day to use BM while Monday or Tuesday for English.

   • 2018 December 3, Natasha Joibi, quoting Kadir Jasin, “Kadir Jasin: Language proficiency important, Malay children's command of BM weak”, in The Star‎^[3], →OCLC, archived from the original on 6 December 2018:

     The assumption that Malay children are already proficient in Bahasa Melayu (BM) upon entering Year One is incorrect  […] But while their command of English is strong, their BM is weak.

6. (broadcasting, uncountable) Initialism of beautiful music.
   • 1983, Television/Radio Age, volume 30, page 72:

     Life support for BM formats
     Robert M. Lowery acknowledges that beautiful music formats are in the decline […]

   • 1988, Donald F. Harvey, Strategic management and business policy, page 300:

     Practically every dentist or doctor's office carries a BM station.

7. Abbreviation of British Museum.
8. Abbreviation of Bachelor of Medicine.
9. (chiefly US) Abbreviation of Bachelor of Music.

Verb

BM (third-person singular simple present BMs, present participle BMing, simple past and past participle BMed)

1. (euphemistic) To have a bowel movement.
2. (video games) To use bad manners.

References

• “BM, n.” under “B, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Anagrams

• M.B., MB, Mb

French

Etymology

Clipping of BMW.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /be.ɛm/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

BM f (plural BM)

1. Short for BMW (automobile)

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi em/
• Rhymes: -em

Proper noun

BM

1. Initialism of bahasa Melayu (Malay) or bahasa Malaysia (Malaysian).

   kelas BM ― Malay/Malaysian class

   buku BM ― Malay/Malaysian book

Further reading

• “BM” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

Spanish

Proper noun

BM ?

1. Initialism of Banco Mundial (“World Bank”).

Turkish

Proper noun

BM

1. Initialism of Birleşmiş Milletler. UN (United Nations)