What does wammus mean?
Wammus is a chiefly South African English noun for a thick, knitted sweater or jumper, especially the heavy, practical garment traditionally associated with fishermen and other people working outdoors in cold conditions. It is a regional and historical term rather than standard vocabulary across Britain and the United States, and the alternate spelling wamus is also well established in South Africa. In ordinary use, wammus carries an informal, traditional flavour, suggesting durable work clothing rather than a fashionable modern sweater. A sentence might describe someone pulling one on against a cold sea wind or wearing one aboard a fishing vessel. The word is useful because it preserves a small piece of South African linguistic history: English borrowed it from Afrikaans, where the closely related wammes denotes a thick jumper. Although uncommon outside its regional home, it is readily intelligible in the contexts in which it survives.
nounA thick, knitted sweater or jumper, especially one traditionally worn by fishermen or others working outdoors in cold conditions.
- A thick knitted sweater or jumper, traditionally worn for work in cold conditions.
"Before setting out in the grey dawn, she pulled on her heavy wammus."
"He wore an old woollen wammus while repairing the fishing nets."
"At the second-hand shop, she found a bright blue wammus with a torn sleeve."
The regular English plural is wammuses.
"Several old wammuses were hanging behind the door."
Think of it as the fisherman's jumper: a thick, practical sweater built for cold weather.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of wammus
Wammus is an alternative South African spelling of wamus. Both forms were borrowed from Afrikaans wammes, meaning a thick knitted jumper; that word reflects an older Dutch term for a padded or bulky garment. The related root wam also appears in older Germanic vocabulary associated with bulk or stuffing.
How wammus is actually used
The word is chiefly used in South Africa and has a traditional, informal character. It is uncommon in contemporary general English in Britain and the United States, where sweater or jumper is normally preferred.
Easily confused with wammus
Wamus and wammus denote the same South African garment; the former is an alternative spelling rather than a distinct kind of sweater.