This is the 469th most frequent Icelandic word.
bænum
The Icelandic word "bænum" means "the town" or "the village" in the dative case.
In this sentence, 'bænum' is the dative definite singular form of 'bær' (town), used to specify the place where the visitation occurred.
Við heimsóttum gamla vini í bænum.
We visited old friends in the town.
'Bænum' is used to indicate the group of people located within the town boundaries, conveyed in the dative singular with a definite article.
Allir í bænum voru að fagna hátíðinni.
Everyone in the town was celebrating the festival.
Here, 'bænum' refers to the specific town being described and is in the dative case due to the preposition 'í' combined with locative meaning.