From Middle English rem, reme, from Old English rēam (“cream”), from Proto-West Germanic *raum, from Proto-Germanic *raumaz (“cream”), from Proto-Indo-European *réwgʰmn̥ (“to sour [milk]”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Room (“cream”), West Frisian rjemme (“cream”), Dutch room (“cream”), German Low German Rahm, Rohm (“cream”), German Rahm (“cream”), Swedish römme (“cream”), Norwegian rømme (“sour cream”), Faroese rómi (“cream”), Icelandic rjómi (“cream”). See also ramekin.
Meanings
(Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal) Cream; also, the creamlike froth on ale or other liquor; froth or foam in general.
From Middle English rem, reme, from Old English rēam (“cream”), from Proto-West Germanic *raum, from Proto-Germanic *raumaz (“cream”), from Proto-Indo-European *réwgʰmn̥ (“to sour [milk]”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Room (“cream”), West Frisian rjemme (“cream”), Dutch room (“cream”), German Low German Rahm, Rohm (“cream”), German Rahm (“cream”), Swedish römme (“cream”), Norwegian rømme (“sour cream”), Faroese rómi (“cream”), Icelandic rjómi (“cream”). See also ramekin.
Meanings
(Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal) To cream; mantle; foam; froth.
a huge pewter measuring pot […] which, in the language of the hostess, reamed with excellent claret 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
Etymology uncertain, possibly a variant of rime (etymology 4) with the East Anglian and Kentish development of Old English /yː/ to /eː/ (the modern spelling would thus be unetymologically for *reem). Doublet of room.
Cognates
* Dutch ruimen (“to empty, evacuate”)
* German räumen (“to make room”)
* Icelandic rýma (“to make room, clear”).
Meanings
(transitive) To enlarge (a hole), especially using a reamer; to bore (a hole) wider.
(transitive) To remove (material) by reaming.
(transitive) To remove burrs and debris from inside (something, such as a freshly bored hole) using a tool.
To shape or form, especially using a reamer.
(broadly, from sense of enlarging a hole, slang, vulgar) To sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way.
ca barrinar (to remove material by reaming) · ru развёртывать (to enlarge a hole) · fi keuhkota (slang: to yell at or berate) · cs vystruhovat (to enlarge a hole) · sv brotscha (to enlarge a hole) · bg поря (slang: to sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way) · sv upprymma (to enlarge a hole) · fr aléser (to enlarge a hole) · de reiben (to enlarge a hole) · de aufbohren (to enlarge a hole) · cs vystružit (to enlarge a hole) · fi survoa (slang: to sexually penetrate in a rough and painful way) · fi avartaa (to enlarge a hole) · de entgraten (to remove burrs and debris from a freshly bored hole) · ca barrinar (to enlarge a hole) · fi vaahdota (slang: to yell at or berate) · bg райберовам (to enlarge a hole) · pl rozwiercać (to enlarge a hole) · cs vystružit (to remove material by reaming) · fi aarporata (to remove material by reaming) · mi heu kō(w)hao (to enlarge a hole) · es escariar (to enlarge a hole) · ru рассве́рливать (to enlarge a hole) · fi aarporata (to shape or form, especially using a reamer) · bg райберовам (to remove material by reaming) · fi aarporata (to enlarge a hole) · pl poszerzać (to enlarge a hole)
From Middle English reme, from Old French raime, rayme (“ream”) (French rame), from Catalan raima (“ream”), from Arabic رِزْمَة (rizma, “bundle”).
Meanings
(broadly, figuratively, in-plural) A bundle, package, or quantity of paper, nowadays usually containing 500 sheets. ▸ An extremely large quantity of documents, data, or information that supports a claim, investigation, or case.
The accountants requested reams of financial records.
(broadly, in-plural) A bundle, package, or quantity of paper, nowadays usually containing 500 sheets. ▸ An abstract large amount of something.
A large language model (LLM), the technology underpinning chatbots like ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, is a type of neural network, a computer program different from typical software. By feeding it reams of data, engineers train the models to spot patterns and predict what “tokens,” or fragments of words, should come next in a given sequence. 2025 December 11, Charlie Campbell, Andrew R. Chow, Billy Perrigo, “The Architects of AI Are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year”, in Time:
de Menge (abstract large amount) · fi kasa (abstract large amount) · yue 令 (bundle of paper) · fr rame de papier (bundle of paper) · es resma (bundle of paper) · bg топ (bundle of paper) · cmn 令 (bundle of paper) · fi läjä (abstract large amount) · fr ramette (bundle of paper) · th รีม (bundle of paper) · id rim (bundle of paper) · fi riisi (bundle of paper) · tl resma (bundle of paper) · gl resma (bundle of paper) · yue 捻 (bundle of paper) · cs rys (bundle of paper) · hu rizsma (bundle of paper) · cy rîm (bundle of paper) · ga uafás (abstract large amount) · nl riem (bundle of paper) · bg куп (abstract large amount) · yue 拈 (bundle of paper) · cy llond gwlad (abstract large amount) · sv ris (bundle of paper) · it risma (bundle of paper) · ga réam (bundle of paper) · de Ries (bundle of paper) · pt resma (bundle of paper) · fi tukku (abstract large amount) · ca raima (bundle of paper) · pl ryza (bundle of paper) · fr rame (bundle of paper) · nb ris (bundle of paper) · cy pentwr (abstract large amount)