ream

See also: Ream and réam

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 Dutch room (cream), German Rahm (cream) (whence German Wolfram), Norwegian rømme (sour cream), Icelandic rjómi (cream). See also ramekin.

Alternative forms

Noun

ream

  1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.

Verb

ream (third-person singular simple present reams, present participle reaming, simple past and past participle reamed)

  1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To cream; mantle; foam; froth.

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)

  1. (transitive) To enlarge (a hole), especially using a reamer; to bore (a hole) wider.
    Synonym: rime
  2. (transitive) To remove (material) by reaming.
  3. (transitive) To remove burrs and debris from inside (something, such as a freshly bored hole) using a tool.
    Synonym: rime
  4. To shape or form, especially using a reamer.
  5. (slang, vulgar, by extension from sense of enlarging a hole) To sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way.
  6. (slang) To yell at or berate.
    Synonym: ream out
Alternative forms
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

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

Noun

ream (plural reams)

  1. A bundle, package, or quantity of paper, nowadays usually containing 500 sheets.
    Coordinate terms: bale, bundle, quire
  2. (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

See also

References

  1. ^ 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)

  1. kingdom

Latin

Noun

ream f

  1. accusative singular of rea

Middle English

Noun

ream

  1. 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

  1. cream

Descendants

  • Middle English: reme, rem, ryme
    • English: ream
    • Scots: ream, reme, reim
    • Yola: reem, rhyme

Scots

Etymology

Late Middle English, from Old English ream (cream).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /rim/

Noun

ream (uncountable)

  1. (food): cream
  2. (ointment): cream