ream
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɹiːm/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Homophone: rheme
- Rhymes: -iːm
Audio (UK): (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle English reme, rem, from Old English rēam (“cream”), from Proto-West Germanic *raum, from Proto-Germanic *raumaz (“cream”), from Proto-Indo-European *réwgʰmn̥ (“to sour [milk]”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Room (“cream”), West Frisian rjemme (“cream”), Dutch room (“cream”), German Low German Rahm, Rohm (“cream”), German Rahm (“cream”), Swedish römme (“cream”), Norwegian rømme (“sour cream”), Faroese rómi (“cream”), Icelandic rjómi (“cream”). See also ramekin.
Alternative forms
Noun
ream
- (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.
Derived terms
Verb
ream (third-person singular simple present reams, present participle reaming, simple past and past participle reamed)
- (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To cream; mantle; foam; froth.
- 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
- a huge pewter measuring pot […] which, in the language of the hostess, reamed with excellent claret
Etymology 2
Etymology uncertain, possibly a variant of rime (etymology 4).[1] Doublet of room.
Verb
ream (third-person singular simple present reams, present participle reaming, simple past and past participle reamed)
- (transitive) To enlarge (a hole), especially using a reamer; to bore (a hole) wider.
- Synonym: rime
- (transitive) To remove (material) by reaming.
- (transitive) To remove burrs and debris from inside (something, such as a freshly bored hole) using a tool.
- Synonym: rime
- To shape or form, especially using a reamer.
- (slang, vulgar, by extension from sense of enlarging a hole) To sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way.
- (slang) To yell at or berate.
- Synonym: ream out
Alternative forms
Synonyms
- (to sexually penetrate): dig out, nail, root, tap; see also Thesaurus:copulate with
Derived terms
Translations
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Etymology 3
From Middle English reme, from Old French raime, rayme (“ream”) (French rame), from Catalan raima (“ream”), from Arabic رِزْمَة (rizma, “bundle”).
Alternative forms
- reme (obsolete)
Noun
ream (plural reams)
- A bundle, package, or quantity of paper, nowadays usually containing 500 sheets.
- (chiefly in the plural) An abstract large amount of something.
- Synonyms: bunch, load, pile; see also Thesaurus:lot
- I can't go – I still have reams of work left.
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
- Units of paper quantity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
- ^ “ream, v.4”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023; “ream2, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Anagrams
Friulian
Etymology
Probably from Latin regimen, regimine. Compare French royaume (Old French reaume, reiame), Occitan reialme, Romansh reginam.
Pronunciation
Noun
ream m (plural reams)
Related terms
Latin
Noun
ream f
- accusative singular of rea
Middle English
Noun
ream
- alternative form of rem
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *raum, from Proto-Germanic *raumaz.
Cognate with Middle Low German rōm, Middle Dutch room, Old High German roum (German Rahm), Old Norse rjúmi (Icelandic rjómi, Norwegian rømme).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ræ͜ɑːm/
Noun
rēam m
Descendants
Scots
Etymology
Late Middle English, from Old English ream (“cream”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /rim/
Noun
ream (uncountable)