gorm

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Gorm

English

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Etymology 1

[edit]

A variant of gaum (from Middle English gome, from Old Norse gaumr, from Proto-Germanic *gaumō; compare Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌿𐌼𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaumjan, observe)), with the ‘r’ being a vowel-lengthening device common in non-rhotic dialects of English. See gaum for more.

Alternative forms

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

gorm (third-person singular simple present gorms, present participle gorming, simple past and past participle gormed)

  1. (UK and US, dialects) To gawk; to stare or gape.
    • 1922, Elinor Mordaunt, Laura Creichton, page 110:
      Passing through St. George's Square, Lupus Street, Chichester Street, he scarcely saw a soul; then, quite suddenly, he struck a dense crowd, kept back by the police, standing gorming at a great jagged hole in a high blank wall, a glimpse, the merest glimpse of more broken walls, shattered chimneys.
    • 1901, New Outlook, volume 67, page 408:
      "Tell Sannah to bring some coffee," said the young woman to a diminutive Kaffir boy, who stood gorming at us with round black eyes.
    • 1990, Jean Ure, Play Nimrod for him, →ISBN, page 96:
      They would stand in silence, mindlessly gorming at each other, []
    • 2005, Lynne Truss, The Lynne Truss Treasury: Columns and Three Comic Novels, →ISBN:
      In particular, we like to emphasize that, far from wasting our childhoods (not to mention adulthoods) mindlessly gorming at The Virginian and The Avengers, we spent those couch-potato years in rigorous preparation for our chosen career.
[edit]
  • goam (see, recognize, take notice of)
  • gaum (understand; comprehend; consider)

Etymology 2

[edit]

A variant of gaum (itself likely a variant of gum), with the ‘r’ being a vowel-lengthening device common in non-rhotic dialects of English.

Verb

[edit]

gorm (third-person singular simple present gorms, present participle gorming, simple past and past participle gormed)

  1. Alternative form of gaum (to smear)
    • 1884, Margaret Elizabeth Majendie, Out of their element, page 70:
      'It is quite ruined.'
      'How did she do it? What a pity!'
      'With paint—assisting in the painting of a garden-gate. She told me the pleasure of "gorming" it on was too irresistible to be resisted; and the poor little new gown in done for.'
    • 1909, Augusta Kortrecht, “The Widow Mary”, in Good Housekeeping, volume 48, page 182:
      "It was in a little sprinkler bottle, an' I gormed it onto my vittles good an' thick. Lordy, Lordy, an' now I got to die!"
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:gorm.

References

[edit]
  • Bennett Wood Green, Word-book of Virginia Folk-speech (1912), page 202:
    Gorm, v. To smear, as with anything sticky. When a child has smeared its face with something soft and sticky, they say: "Look how you have gormed your face."

Etymology 3

[edit]

From gormandize/gormandise.

Verb

[edit]

gorm (third-person singular simple present gorms, present participle gorming, simple past and past participle gormed)

  1. (colloquial, rare) To devour; to wolf down (food).
    • 1885, James Johonnot, Neighbors with Claws and Hoofs, and Their Kin, page 105:
      The bear came up to the berries and stopped. Not accustomed to eat out of a pail, he tipped it over, and nosed about the fruit "gorming" it down, mixed with leaves and dirt, []
    • 1920, Outdoor Recreation: The Magazine that Brings the Outdoors In:
      [] an itinerant bruin and with naught on his hands but time and an appetite, [to] wander from ravine to ravine and gorm down this delectable fruit.
    • 1980, Michael G. Karni, Finnish Americana, page 5:
      As Luohi said later, "He gormed it. Nay, he didn't eat it. He gormed it, the pig."

Etymology 4

[edit]

Supposed by some to be related to gormless and/or gorming, and by others to be related to gorm (smear) (itself probably related to gum (make sticky; impair the functioning of)).[1]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

gorm (third-person singular simple present gorms, present participle gorming, simple past and past participle gormed)

  1. (dialectal, chiefly Southern US, Appalachia, New England, often with ‘up’) To make a mess of.
    • 1910, English Mechanic and World of Science, volume 91, page 273:
      I find the cheap shilling self-filling pen advertised in these pages excellent value—quite equal to that of fountain-pens I have paid ten times as much for. It is also durable. I am a careless person, and prefer to discard it when I have “gormed” it []
    • 2008, Christine Blevins, Midwife of the Blue Ridge, →ISBN, page 133:
      "Truth is, I've gormed it all up, Alistair. When it comes t' women — nice women anyway — I'm as caw-handed and cork-brained as any pimply boy."

References

[edit]
  • Maine lingo: boiled owls, billdads & wazzats (1975), page 114: "A man who bungles a job has gormed it. Anybody who stumbles over his own feet is gormy."
  • Smoky Mountain Voices: A Lexicon of Southern Appalachian Speech (1993, →ISBN: "gorm: [v. to make a mess.] If a house be in disorder it is said to be all gormed or gaumed up (B 368)."
  1. ^ Smoky Mountain Voices: A Lexicon of Southern Appalachian Speech (1993, →ISBN

See also

[edit]

Anagrams

[edit]

Cornish

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Proto-Brythonic *gurm, from Proto-Celtic *gurmos, cognate with Welsh gwrm (brown, dark).

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

gorm

  1. dark brown
[edit]
  • gell (light brown)

Mutation

[edit]
Mutation of gorm
unmutated soft aspirate hard mixed mixed after 'th
gorm worm unchanged korm hworm worm

See also

[edit]
Colors in Cornish · liwyow (layout · text)
     gwynn      loos, glas      du
             rudh; kogh              rudhvelyn; gell, gorm              melyn
                          gwyrdh, glas             
                                       glas
             glasrudh, purpur              majenta; purpur, glasrudh              gwynnrudh, kigliw

Irish

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Old Irish gorm (blue), from Proto-Celtic *gurmos. Cognate with Welsh gwrm (dusky).

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

gorm (genitive singular masculine goirm, genitive singular feminine goirme, plural gorma, comparative goirme)

  1. blue
  2. black (of people, skin)
  3. (heraldry) azure

Declension

[edit]
Declension of gorm
singular plural (m/f)
Positive masculine feminine (strong noun) (weak noun)
nominative gorm ghorm gorma;
ghorma2
vocative ghoirm gorma
genitive goirme gorma gorm
dative gorm;
ghorm1
ghorm;
ghoirm (archaic)
gorma;
ghorma2
Comparative níos goirme
Superlative is goirme

1 When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
2 When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

Obsolete spellings
Declension of gorm
singular plural (m/f)
Positive masculine feminine (strong noun) (weak noun)
nominative gorm ghorm gorma;
ghorma2
vocative ghuirm gorma
genitive guirme gorma gorm
dative gorm;
ghorm1
ghorm;
ghuirm (archaic)
gorma;
ghorma2
Comparative níos guirme
Superlative is guirme

1 When the preceding noun is lenited and governed by the definite article.
2 When the preceding noun ends in a slender consonant.

Derived terms

[edit]

Mutation

[edit]
Mutated forms of gorm
radical lenition eclipsis
gorm ghorm ngorm

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

See also

[edit]
Colors in Irish · dathanna (layout · text)
     bán      liath      dubh
             dearg; corcairdhearg              oráiste, flannbhuí; donn              buí; bánbhuí
             líoma-ghlas, glas líoma              glas, uaine              dath an mhiontais
             cian              gormghlas, spéirghorm              gorm
             corcairghorm; indeagó              maigeanta; corcra              bándearg

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 17, page 11
  2. ^ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 128
  3. ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 110, page 43

Further reading

[edit]

Scottish Gaelic

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Old Irish gorm (blue), from Proto-Celtic *gurmos. Same root as Welsh gwrm (dusky).

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

gorm (comparative guirme)

  1. blue, dark blue
  2. green; blue-green to verdant (natural; of plants, especially grass)
    Synonym: glas
  3. green (inexperienced or naive)
  4. black, dark gray (of animal fur)
  5. black (of skin colour)

Usage notes

[edit]
  • The use of gorm for animals or people refers to the colours reflected in the fur or skin, which can have a blue iridescence.

Derived terms

[edit]
[edit]

Mutation

[edit]
Mutation of gorm
radical lenition
gorm ghorm

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

See also

[edit]
Colors in Scottish Gaelic · dathan (layout · text)
     bàn, geal      glas      dubh
             dearg; ruadh              orains; donn              buidhe; donn
             uaine              uaine              gorm
             liath; glas              liath              gorm
             purpaidh; guirmean              pinc; purpaidh              pinc

References

[edit]