gram English · revision 39745

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɡræm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|unit of mass}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1797, gramme|origins=grc γράμμα}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|gramme]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010) [[der|la-lat|gramma|t=a small weight]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024) [[der|grc|γράμμα|tr=grámma|t=something written, a letter; a small weight]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Klein 1966)^(Ayto 2005) from the stem of [[m|grc|γράφω|tr=gráphō|t=to draw, write]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023) The Greek noun is also the source of [[grammar]] and of the suffix [[-gram]].^(Ayto 2005)^(Klein 1966) The French word was adopted for the basic unit of weight in the metric system in 1799;^(Ayto 2005)^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that English took it up about two years before the unit was fixed by French law.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The metric unit of weight: 1797, spelled ''gramme'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) in the late 18th century in the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English.^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) Merriam-Webster's first known use is 1810.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was first defined as the weight of a cubic centimetre of distilled water at its greatest density, and is now defined as a thousandth of a kilogram.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) The French spelling ''gramme'' is still used in British English beside ''gram'',^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016) which is the usual form in American English.^(Dictionary.com 2016) Compounds such as ''gram atom'' and ''gram calorie'' were formed in chemistry and physics.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1797 – ''gramme'', the metric unit of weight.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1810 – Merriam-Webster's first known use.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[metric]] unit of [[mass]] equal to one thousandth of a [[kilogram]]: ''Add 200 grams of flour.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The weight of such a mass under standard [[gravity]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[kilogram]]

+ * [[milligram]]

+ * [[microgram]]

+ * [[centigram]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|chickpea}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1702|origins=la grānum}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|pt|grão|t=grain, seed, chickpea]], formerly sometimes written ''gram'',^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) [[inh|la|grānum|t=grain, seed]],^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) the source of [[grain]].^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The chickpea, also called Bengal gram: 1702, in a record from Madras,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)^(MWU 2024) the early 18th century in the Shorter Oxford.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The name was extended to other kinds of pulse grown in the Indian subcontinent and used as food for horses and people,^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) such as black gram, green gram (the mung bean) and horse gram.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) Attributive uses such as ''gram-fed'' and ''gram field'' are recorded from 1799, in the Duke of Wellington's dispatches from India.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1702 – the chickpea.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1799 – attributive uses such as ''gram-fed''.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[chickpea]], or any of several other [[legume|alt=leguminous]] plants grown, especially in South Asia, for their seeds; the seeds themselves.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Bengal gram]]

+ * [[black gram]]

+ * [[green gram]]

+ * [[horse gram]]

+

+ {{homograph|3|grandmother}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=1923, Washington Post}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a shortening of [[m|en|gramma]], a variant of [[grandma]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One's grandmother, usually as a form of address or a title before a name: 1923, in the ''Washington Post'';^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1934.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word has kept the familiar, affectionate use of ''grandma'', and is used chiefly in speech and family writing.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1923 – grandmother.^(OED 2026)

+ * c1934 – Merriam-Webster's first known use.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # (informal) A [[grandmother]]: ''We spent the summer at Gram's farm.''^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[grammar]]

+ * [[-gram]]

+ * [[telegram]]

+ * [[grain]]

+ * [[grandma]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two further clippings are spelled the same: ''gram'' for [[telegram]] or cablegram, recorded from 1891, and ''gram'' for [[gramophone]], from 1959.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The ''Gram stain'' and the adjectives ''Gram-positive'' and ''Gram-negative'' come instead from the name of the Danish bacteriologist Hans Christian Gram, who developed the staining method in 1884.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) In Scottish and Northumbrian dialect ''gram'' or ''grame'' meant anger or passion, a word the English Dialect Dictionary derives from Old Norse.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}