vökvum

Vökvum is an Icelandic linguistic form meaning liquids or fluids. It is derived from the noun vökvi, which denotes a liquid substance. In usage, vökvum serves as a general term for liquids rather than for a specific liquid, and it appears primarily in technical, scientific, or descriptive writing where liquids are being discussed as a category.

In grammatical terms, vökvum is the dative plural form of vökvi. Icelandic nouns decline for case and number, and vökvum appears in constructions that require the dative plural. The form is therefore encountered in contexts that involve prepositions or verbs governing the dative case, or in lists and descriptions of multiple liquid substances.

Etymology-wise, vökvi traces to Old Norse and related Germanic roots for the concept of a liquid. The term is used across fields such as chemistry, biology, medicine, and culinary arts when referring to liquids in aggregate or as a class, rather than to a single substance.

Usage notes emphasize that vökvum denotes liquids in a general sense and is not limited to a particular liquid. It is most often found in formal or technical Icelandic texts, rather than in casual everyday speech. When referring to a specific liquid, other inflected forms of vökvi or different terms would typically be used.

See also: vökvi, liquids in Icelandic, Icelandic grammar.