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Origin and history of cram

cram(v.)

Old English crammian "press something into something else," from Proto-Germanic *kramm- (source also of Old High German krimman "to press, pinch," Old Norse kremja "to squeeze, pinch"), from extended form of PIE root *ger- "to gather."

It is attested from early 14c. as "fill with more than can be conveniently contained." The meaning "study intensely for an exam in a short time" (with a view to passing the test, not real learning) is attested by 1803, transitive as well as reflexive, originally British student slang. Related: Crammed; cramming; crammer.

Entries linking to cram

*ger-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to gather." 

It might form all or part of: aggregate; aggregation; agora; agoraphobia; allegory; category; congregate; cram; egregious; gregarious; panegyric; paregoric; segregate.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit gramah "heap, troop;" Greek ageirein "to assemble," agora "assembly;" Latin grex "flock, herd," gremium "bosom, lap;" Old Church Slavonic grusti "handful," gramota "heap;" Lithuanian gurgulys "chaos, confusion," gurguolė "crowd, mass;" Old English crammian "press something into something else."

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    Trends of cram

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    drum
    early 15c., drom, "percussive musical instrument consisting of a hollow wooden or metallic body and a tightly stretched head of membrane," probably from Middle Dutch tromme "drum," a common Germanic word (compare German Trommel, Danish tromme, Swedish trumma) and probably imitati
    bone
    Middle English bon, from Old English ban "bone, tusk, hard animal tissue forming the substance of the skeleton; one of the parts which make up the skeleton," from Proto-Germanic *bainan (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon ben, Old Norse bein, Danish ben, German Bein). Absen
    jam
    "to press tightly" (trans.), 1719; "to become wedged" (intrans.), 1706, of unknown origin, perhaps a variant of Middle English cham "to bite upon something; gnash the teeth" (late 14c.; see champ (v.)). Of a malfunction in the moving parts of machinery by 1851. Sense of "cause in
    frequent
    Watkins says probably from PIE *bhrekw- "to cram together," and compares Greek phrassein "to fence in," Latin farcire "to...cram," But Beekes regards the connection to the Greek word as "quite uncertain."...
    farce
    a mystery play" (16c.), literally "stuffing," from Old French farcir "to stuff," (13c.), from Latin farcire "to stuff, cram...," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps from PIE *bhrekw- "to cram together," and thus related to frequens "crowded." ....
    stuff
    From c. 1400 as "fill, cram full; fill (the belly) with food or drink, gorge;" from early 15c. as "to clog" (the sinuses,...
    stow
    nautical sense of "put away to be stored, pack" (gear, in a ship) is by late 14c., reinforced later by Dutch stouwen "to cram...
    ready
    Middle English redi, with adjectival suffix -i (as in busy, crafty, hungry, etc.) + Old English ræde, geræde "prepared, ready, suitably equipped;" of a horse, "ready for riding." This is reconstructed to be from Proto-Germanic *(ga)raitha- "arranged" (source also of Old Frisian r
    peso
    "Spanish coin, the Spanish dollar," also a coin in various Spanish-American nations,  1550s, from Spanish peso, literally "a weight," from Medieval Latin pensum, properly past participle of Latin pendere "to hang, cause to hang; weigh; pay" (from PIE root *(s)pen- "to draw,
    pose
    late 14c., posen, "suggest (something is so), suppose, assume; grant, concede," from Old French poser "put, place, propose," a term in debating, from Late Latin pausare "to halt, rest, cease, pause" (source also of Italian posare, Spanish posar; see pause (v.)). The Late Latin ve

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    Dictionary entries near cram
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