Etymologically
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creamy

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈkɹiːmi/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English cream + -y,[2][3][4][5][6] first in late Middle English as cremy.[7][6] cream came into Middle English from Old French cresme, also craime, which was a blend of Late Latin chrisma (“ointment”) and cramum (“cream”), perhaps of Gaulish origin.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Made of a creamy, custard-like substance, in the name of a dish, leche cremy ryall, in a cookery book of about 1450;[7] and "full of cream", of a cow's milk, before 1475.[7] Etymonline dates the sense "like cream in consistency or appearance" to the mid 15th century and "containing cream" to the late 15th.[3]

Semantic evolution

The OED, in an entry not yet revised, has no record before 1610, when Gervase Markham used it of something with the look or consistency of cream;[2] Merriam-Webster gives 1681.[5] "Containing or rich in cream" follows in 1618, in Chapman's Hesiod.[2] A figurative sense, "soft and rich, luscious", is recorded before 1640,[2] and the colour sense, especially in creamy white or creamy yellow, from 1845.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as full of cream, or having the nature of cream.[8] In British slang of the 19th century creamy meant excellent, first-rate (1859).[9] In Northamptonshire creamy weather was a hazy sky, and in Berkshire creamy-faced meant pale.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1450 – of a dish, made of a creamy substance.[7]
  • before 1475 – full of cream.[7]
  • 1610 – like cream in look or consistency.[2]
  • 1618 – containing cream.[2]
  • before 1640 – figurative, soft and rich.[2]
  • 1681 – first known use in Merriam-Webster.[5]
  • 1845 – cream-coloured.[2]
  • 1859 – slang, excellent.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Containing cream, or rich in it: a creamy tomato soup.[11][5][2]
  2. Like cream in texture, taste or appearance; smooth and soft: Beat the butter and sugar until creamy.[11][5][2]
  3. Of the pale yellowish-white colour of cream.[11][2]

Word family

  • creamily
  • creaminess

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins