Etymologically
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ram

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɹæm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English ramm (“male sheep; battering ram”), earlier rom,[2][3][4] a West Germanic word, with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch and Old High German ram,[3][2][5] of unknown origin.[3] It is probably related to Old Norse rammr (“strong, sharp”),[2][4][5] and Klein also compares Old Church Slavonic ramenu, impetuous.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A male sheep: about 825 in the OED, before 725 (as rom) in Barnhart.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

A battering ram is from about 897,[6] and the zodiac sign Aries from about 1050.[6] A pile driver is from 1256 and the weight of a pile-driving machine from the 15th century.[2][4] The beak of a warship used for ramming is from 1865,[6] and a lecherous man, colloquially, from 1935.[6] The verb, to beat earth firm, is from about 1300,[3][2] to drive in by heavy blows from 1519,[2] and to dash violently against by 1864.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 825 – a male sheep.[6]
  • c. 897 – a battering ram.[6]
  • c. 1050 – Aries.[6]
  • c. 1300 – to tamp (verb).[3]
  • 1864 – to strike violently.[3]
  • 1865 – a warship's beak.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An uncastrated male sheep.
  2. A battering ram or similar device for striking or driving.
  3. The weight of a pile driver, or the piston of a hydraulic press.
  4. (the Ram) The constellation or zodiac sign Aries.

Verb

  1. To strike or butt against with great force.
  2. To force into place by pushing or pounding: ram home.

Word family

  • rammer
  • ramlike
  • ramshorn
  • ramjet
  • ramrod
  • hydraulic ram
  • rammed earth

Usage notes

RAM in computing, random-access memory, is an unrelated acronym from 1957.[3][5]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press