
While this root has three letters, one main word coming from it has just two: cham (חַם), which means hot. Closely related are the words chom (חוֹם), a fever, and madchom (מַדְחוֹם), a thermometer.
When we heat something we say l’chamem (לְחַמֵּם), and chamim (חַמִּים) means warm or cozy. If we were growing plants we would grow them in a chamamah (חֲמָמָה), a greenhouse. We can use the same word to talk about the greenhouse effect, efekt ha’chamama (אֶפֶקְט הַחֲמָמָה), in which in which the sun’s heat is trapped by greenhouses gasses, causing hit’chamemoot globalit (הִתְחַמְּמוּת גְּלוֹבָּלִית), global warming.
Photo Credit: Dror Artzi-Joni