lamber

English

Etymology 1

From lamb +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlæm.ə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlæmɚ/
• Rhymes: -æmə(ɹ)

Noun

lamber (plural lambers)

1. A ewe that gives birth to a lamb.
   • 2017, Trisha Ashley, The Little Teashop of Lost and Found:

     He'd gone out before dawn searching for a ewe, an early lamber that liked to hide out near the base of the Oldstone, where the rocks gave a bit of shelter.

2. A farm worker who supervises the birth of lambs.
   • 1855, William Lewis Rham, William Raynbird, Hugh Raynbird, The Dictionary of the Farm, page 354:

     The ewes should now be moved as near home as convenience will permit, in order that they may be under the immediate observation of the lamber.

   • 2008, Horatio Clare, Running for the Hills, page 130:

     The lambers sometimes brought their friends and acquaintances to see the view and relax in what must have seemed a bohemian atmosphere.

Etymology 2

From Malagasy [Term?] (Highlands dialect).

Noun

lamber (plural lambers)

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of lamba (“Madagascan garment”).

Anagrams

• Ambler, Balmer, Blamer, Marble, ambler, blamer, marble, ramble

Galician

Etymology

From Latin lambere (“lick, lap”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lamˈbeɾ/ [lamˈbeɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Hyphenation: lam‧ber

Verb

lamber (first-person singular present lambo, first-person singular preterite lambín, past participle lambido)
lamber (first-person singular present lambo, first-person singular preterite lambim or lambi, past participle lambido, reintegrationist norm)

1. (transitive) to lick
2. (pronominal) to lick one's lips
3. (pronominal, idiomatic) to cope; to fend for oneself

   Colleu unha prea que non se lambía ― He got so drunk he couldn't stand up.

   Boi ceibe ben se lambe (proverb) ― A free ox fends well for itself.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of lamber

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	lamber
Personal	lamber	lamberes	lamber	lambermos	lamberdes	lamberen
Gerund
	lambendo
Past participle
Masculine	lambido			lambidos
Feminine	lambida			lambidas
Indicative
Present	lambo	lambes	lambe	lambemos	lambedes	lamben
Imperfect	lambía	lambías	lambía	lambiamos	lambiades	lambían
Preterite	lambín	lambiches	lambeu	lambemos	lambestes	lamberon
Pluperfect	lambera	lamberas	lambera	lamberamos	lamberades	lamberan
Future	lamberei	lamberás	lamberá	lamberemos	lamberedes	lamberán
Conditional	lambería	lamberías	lambería	lamberiamos	lamberiades	lamberían
Subjunctive
Present	lamba	lambas	lamba	lambamos	lambades	lamban
Imperfect	lambese	lambeses	lambese	lambésemos	lambésedes	lambesen
Future	lamber	lamberes	lamber	lambermos	lamberdes	lamberen
Imperative
Affirmative		lambe	lamba	lambamos	lambede	lamban
Negative (non)		non lambas	non lamba	non lambamos	non lambades	non lamban

    Reintegrated conjugation of lamber (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	lamber
Personal	lamber	lamberes	lamber	lambermos	lamberdes	lamberem
Gerund
	lambendo
Past participle
Masculine	lambido			lambidos
Feminine	lambida			lambidas
Indicative
Present	lambo	lambes	lambe	lambemos	lambedes, lambeis	lambem
Imperfect	lambia	lambias	lambia	lambíamos	lambíades, lambíeis, lambíais1	lambiam
Preterite	lambim, lambi	lambeste, lambeche1	lambeu	lambemos	lambestes	lambêrom, lamberam
Pluperfect	lambera	lamberas	lambera	lambêramos	lambêrades, lambêreis, lambêrais1	lamberam
Future	lamberei	lamberás	lamberá	lamberemos	lamberedes, lambereis	lamberám, lamberão
Conditional	lamberia	lamberias	lamberia	lamberíamos	lamberíades, lamberíeis, lamberíais1	lamberiam
Subjunctive
Present	lamba	lambas	lamba	lambamos	lambades, lambais	lambam
Imperfect	lambesse	lambesses	lambesse	lambêssemos	lambêssedes, lambêsseis	lambessem
Future	lamber	lamberes	lamber	lambermos	lamberdes	lamberem
Imperative
Affirmative		lambe	lamba	lambamos	lambede, lambei	lambam
Negative (nom)		nom lambas	nom lamba	nom lambamos	nom lambades, nom lambais	nom lambam

¹Less recommended.

Derived terms

• delamber
• lambecús
• lambetada
• lambetar
• lambiscada
• lamboanada
• lambón
• relamber

References

• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “lamber”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “lamber”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “lamber”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “lamber”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2025
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “lamber”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Ladino

Etymology

From Latin lambō, lambere.

Verb

lamber (Hebrew spelling לאמביר)

1. to lick

Middle English

Noun

lamber

1. alternative form of lambre

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin lambere (“lick, lap”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbe(ʁ)/ [lɐ̃ˈbe(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbe(ʁ)/ [lɐ̃ˈbe(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbe(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbe(ʁ)/ [lɐ̃ˈbe(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbe(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbeɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbeɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐ̃ˈbe.ɾi/

• (Alentejo) IPA^(key): /lẽ.ˈbeɾ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lam‧ber

Verb

lamber (first-person singular present lambo, first-person singular preterite lambi, past participle lambido)

1. to lick

Conjugation

    Conjugation of lamber (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	lamber
Personal	lamber	lamberes	lamber	lambermos	lamberdes	lamberem
Gerund
	lambendo
Past participle
Masculine	lambido			lambidos
Feminine	lambida			lambidas
Indicative
Present	lambo	lambes	lambe	lambemos	lambeis	lambem
Imperfect	lambia	lambias	lambia	lambíamos	lambíeis	lambiam
Preterite	lambi	lambeste	lambeu	lambemos	lambestes	lamberam
Pluperfect	lambera	lamberas	lambera	lambêramos	lambêreis	lamberam
Future	lamberei	lamberás	lamberá	lamberemos	lambereis	lamberão
Conditional	lamberia	lamberias	lamberia	lamberíamos	lamberíeis	lamberiam
Subjunctive
Present	lamba	lambas	lamba	lambamos	lambais	lambam
Imperfect	lambesse	lambesses	lambesse	lambêssemos	lambêsseis	lambessem
Future	lamber	lamberes	lamber	lambermos	lamberdes	lamberem
Imperative
Affirmative		lambe	lamba	lambamos	lambei	lambam
Negative (não)		não lambas	não lamba	não lambamos	não lambais	não lambam

Derived terms

• lambança

Further reading

• “lamber” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “lamber”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lamˈbeɾ/ [lãmˈbeɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: lam‧ber

Verb

lamber (first-person singular present lambo, first-person singular preterite lambí, past participle lambido)

1. alternative form of lamer

Conjugation

    Conjugation of lamber (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			lamber
gerund			lambiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		lambido		lambida
		plural		lambidos		lambidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	lambo	lambestú lambésvos	lambe	lambemos	lambéis	lamben
	imperfect	lambía	lambías	lambía	lambíamos	lambíais	lambían
	preterite	lambí	lambiste	lambió	lambimos	lambisteis	lambieron
	future	lamberé	lamberás	lamberá	lamberemos	lamberéis	lamberán
	conditional	lambería	lamberías	lambería	lamberíamos	lamberíais	lamberían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	lamba	lambastú lambásvos2	lamba	lambamos	lambáis	lamban
	imperfect (ra)	lambiera	lambieras	lambiera	lambiéramos	lambierais	lambieran
	imperfect (se)	lambiese	lambieses	lambiese	lambiésemos	lambieseis	lambiesen
	future1	lambiere	lambieres	lambiere	lambiéremos	lambiereis	lambieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		lambetú lambévos	lamba	lambamos	lambed	lamban
	negative		no lambas	no lamba	no lambamos	no lambáis	no lamban

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of lamber

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive lamber	dative	lamberme	lamberte	lamberle, lamberse	lambernos	lamberos	lamberles, lamberse
	accusative	lamberme	lamberte	lamberlo, lamberla, lamberse	lambernos	lamberos	lamberlos, lamberlas, lamberse
with gerund lambiendo	dative	lambiéndome	lambiéndote	lambiéndole, lambiéndose	lambiéndonos	lambiéndoos	lambiéndoles, lambiéndose
	accusative	lambiéndome	lambiéndote	lambiéndolo, lambiéndola, lambiéndose	lambiéndonos	lambiéndoos	lambiéndolos, lambiéndolas, lambiéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative lambe	dative	lámbeme	lámbete	lámbele	lámbenos	not used	lámbeles
	accusative	lámbeme	lámbete	lámbelo, lámbela	lámbenos	not used	lámbelos, lámbelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative lambé	dative	lambeme	lambete	lambele	lambenos	not used	lambeles
	accusative	lambeme	lambete	lambelo, lambela	lambenos	not used	lambelos, lambelas
with formal second-person singular imperative lamba	dative	lámbame	not used	lámbale, lámbase	lámbanos	not used	lámbales
	accusative	lámbame	not used	lámbalo, lámbala, lámbase	lámbanos	not used	lámbalos, lámbalas
with first-person plural imperative lambamos	dative	not used	lambámoste	lambámosle	lambámonos	lambámoos	lambámosles
	accusative	not used	lambámoste	lambámoslo, lambámosla	lambámonos	lambámoos	lambámoslos, lambámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative lambed	dative	lambedme	not used	lambedle	lambednos	lambeos	lambedles
	accusative	lambedme	not used	lambedlo, lambedla	lambednos	lambeos	lambedlos, lambedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative lamban	dative	lámbanme	not used	lámbanle	lámbannos	not used	lámbanles, lámbanse
	accusative	lámbanme	not used	lámbanlo, lámbanla	lámbannos	not used	lámbanlos, lámbanlas, lámbanse

Derived terms

• lambeculo

Further reading

• “lamber”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025