Dictionary

coomb en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /kuːm/

Etymology

From Middle English *coumb, *comb, *cumb (> Scots cumb, coom (“tub, cistern”)), from Old English cumb (“a vessel; a liquid measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *kumb, from Proto-Germanic *kumbaz (“bowl, vessel”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve”). Cognate with Dutch kom (“basin, bowl”), German Kumpf (“bowl”).

Meanings

1. (dialectal) A tub or vat, especially used in brewing.
2. An old English measure of corn (e.g., wheat), equal to half a quarter or 4 bushels.
   • It was equal to half a quarter, i.e. is identical with the coomb of the eastern counties. 1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 168:
   • Two kilderkins, or strikes, make a measure called a barrel, liquid, and a coomb, dry; this last term being ancient and little used. 1790 July 13, Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Secretary of State, Plan for establishing uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States," report communicated to the House of Representatives:

Forms

coomb en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /kuːm/

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of combe.
   alt of combe
   • From the centre of each side of this tree-bound square ran avenues east, west, and south into the wide expanse of corn-land and coomb to the distance of a mile or so. 1896, Thomas Hardy, chapter 4, in The Mayor of Casterbridge:

Forms