Bochum

Bochum

1. A city in western Germany

From Middle Low German bôchêm, bôkhêm, equivalent to bôke, bö̂ke (“beech”) + hêm (“home”). Doublet of Buchheim. The suffix was reduced to [əm] (see -em) and then backed under influence of the preceding velar. The [x] may go back to spelling pronunciation or influence by a Central German dialect. It could also be a native development [kh] → [x] as in Dutch lichaam, but the popular form in Westphalian Low German is Baukem.

• IPA^(key): /ˈboːxʊm/

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Bochum n (proper noun, strong, genitive Bochums)

1. Bochum (an independent city in Ruhrgebiet, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)