lagom

Borrowed from Swedish lagom (“just right”).

lagom (uncountable)

1. The philosophy or ethos of trying to achieve balance in one's life.
   • 2017, Lola A. Åkerström, Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well, page 178:

     Lagom seems to be fighting a losing battle against a world run by the instant gratification of social media, where we all want to be seen and be heard.

   • 2017, Niki Brantmark, Lagom (Not Too Little, Not Too Much): The Swedish Art of Living a Balanced, Happy Life, unnumbered page:

     The typical Scandinavian home is the very essence of lagom. It's neither too sparse nor too fussy, neither overly minimalist nor overdone.

   • 2017, Steffi Knowles-Dellner, Lagom: The Swedish Art of Eating Harmoniously, unnumbered page:

     Not surprisingly, lagom extends to our cuisine as well – the Swedes take great pride in eating healthily, drawing on their own cooking traditions and the seasons' offerings.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:lagom.

• hygge

• gloam

• Hyphenation: la‧gom

lagom

1. maroon (color)
2. bruise
3. fly

lagom

1. maroon (color)
2. black-and-blue
3. inky; dark

lagom

1. to darken
2. to turn blue from lack of oxygen

• lugom

An old dative plural of lag.

lagom (neuter lagomt, definite singular and plural lagome)

1. serviceable, useful
2. good

• “lagom” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

The adjective is attested since 1637, from the plural dative form of lag (“law”), so literally "with the laws". The adverb is attested since 1675.

A common folk etymology states that it comes from laget om, meaning "to the whole team, group, retinue". The idea is that this is from the time of Viking long houses, where everyone would gather and drink mead and eat. In order for the mead not to run out, everyone would take not too little and not too much, so that there would be enough for the whole group.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑːˌɡɔm/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -²ɑːɡɔm

lagom (comparative mer lagom, superlative mest lagom)

1. (just) right, fitting, neither too much nor too little

   Soppan är lagom saltad.

   The soup is salted just right.

   Den här lägenheten är precis lagom stor för min dotter.

   This apartment is just the right size for my daughter.

lagom (not comparable)

1. (just) right, fitting, neither too much nor too little

Uninflected.

• lagom är bäst

• lagom on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaɡom/, [ˈla.ɣom]
• Hyphenation: la‧gom

lagom (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜄᜓᜋ᜔)

1. gathering of things together; collection

   Synonyms: tipon, pagtitipon

2. summing up; totaling

   Synonyms: pagbuo, pagbubuo, pagsasama-sama

3. summary

   Synonyms: buod, kabuuran

4. act of summarizing

   Synonyms: pagbubuod, paglalagom

5. monopoly

   Synonyms: monopolyo, abarka

• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves‎ (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier, page 165: “LAGOM. pp. Juntar una cosa con otra, o juntarse el varón con dosa hermanas o primas, o ella con ellos.”