Warmer

How to spell warmer

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce warmer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does warmer mean?

1. adjectiveHaving more heat than something else, or being at a higher temperature than before.
2. nounA device or item used to keep something heated.

Warmer in a sentence

• adjective

  The kitchen felt much warmer once the oven was on.

• noun

  She plugged in the bottle warmer before the baby woke.

• adjective

  Spring afternoons are warmer than the chilly mornings.

• noun

  The cafe used a plate warmer to keep the food hot.

Where does warmer come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base word warm comes from the Old English wearm, meaning 'having or giving off heat', which traces back to a Proto-Germanic root shared with the Dutch warm and German warm. The comparative suffix -er, used to mark a greater degree of an adjective, is itself one of the oldest and most stable pieces of English grammar, descending unchanged from Old English. The same -er also serves as an agent ending in nouns, which is why warmer can also name a thing that warms something. Because both the adjective root and the suffix are plain native English, the spelling is phonetic and free of silent traps; the only point worth noting is the single m, since some writers wrongly double it by analogy with words like summer. The word has carried its core sense of moderate heat continuously for well over a thousand years.

How the word is built

• warm (Old English wearm: having heat)
• -er (comparative / agent suffix)