gorm

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See also: Gorm

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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Verb

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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.
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  • goam (see, recognize, take notice of)
  • gaum (understand; comprehend; consider)

Etymology 2

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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

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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

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  • 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

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From gormandize/gormandise.

Verb

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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

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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

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Verb

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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

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  • 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

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Anagrams

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Cornish

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gorm

  1. dark brown
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  • gell (light brown)

Mutation

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See also

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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

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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

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

Declension

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Obsolete spellings

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
gorm ghorm ngorm
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

See also

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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

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  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

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Scottish Gaelic

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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gorm (comparative guirme)

  1. blue
  2. green; blue-green to verdant (natural; of plants, especially grass)
    Synonym: glas
  3. green (inexperienced or naive)
  4. dark gray (of animals)

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical Lenition
gorm ghorm
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

See also

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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

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