gramn.1
/ɡram/, U.S. /ɡræm/ a. The chickpea, a kind of vetch, Cicer arietinum. Sometimes called Bengal gram. The name is extended to any kind of pulse used as food for horses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > fodder > fodder for horses
horsemeat1404
horse-bread1467
horse-loafc1468
bayard's bunc1520
garbage1526
bait1570
rack-meat1607
greaves1614
ray1656
gram1702
oat hay1843
oaten hay1891
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > chick-pea or lentil
lentila1325
chicha1382
Cicer1382
till1398
chit1541
chickpea1542
ram-ciche1597
ram's head ciche1601
chickny pea1693
gram1702
garbanzo1712
fasels-
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > pulse > [noun] > chick-pea or lentil
lentila1325
chicha1382
Cicer1382
lent1382
till1398
chickpea1542
chit1559
ram-ciche1597
fen lentil1601
ram's head ciche1601
lentil-pulse1660
chickny pea1693
gram1702
garbanzo1712
chana1838
lint1888
chana dal1895
fasels-
1702 in J. T. Wheeler Madras in Olden Time (1861) II. 10 Their allowance three times a week is but a quart of rice and gram together for five men a day.
1732 I. Pyke in Philos. Trans. 1731–2 (Royal Soc.) 37 231 Boil a Peck of Gramm..to a Jelly.
1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Indian Househ. Managem. 71 Your stock of gram should be kept in a large tin-lined chest or box.
b. attributive, as gram-bread, gram-contract, gram-field; gram-fed adj.
ΚΠ
1799 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1844) I. 47 You mentioned some time ago that Purneah would bid for the gram contract when it was offered.
1849 C. J. Napier Jrnl. 4 Nov. in W. Napier Life & Opinions C. J. Napier (1857) IV. 201 A man..with a self-sufficient idea, that no one ‘can know India’ except through long experience of brandy, champagne, gram-fed [printed grain-fed] mutton, cheroots and hookahs.
1869 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 228 Gram bread or cakes have been occasionally used in India for Europeans.
1880 G. Aberigh-Mackay Twenty-one Days India 127 All the gram-fed secretaries and most of the alcoholic chiefs were there.
Draft additions June 2014
gram flour n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > flour > [noun] > flour from non-cereals
flour1660
tapioca1707
cassava1750
wood-meal1758
pea-flour1766
gram flour1820
nardoo1861
banana flour1890
soya1897
chickpea flour1913
garri1926
soy1945
bean-flour-
1820 Asiatick Researches 13 315 Papaḍoms, (fine cakes, made of gram flour, and a fine species of alkali, which gives them an agreeable salt taste and serves the purpose of yeast).
1877 Times of India 2 Oct. 2/5 A little gram flour sprinkled over the pieces of prickly pear will overcome indifference.
1914 Forum Mar. 458 He took out from his bundle some gram-flour, moistened it with water and began to eat.
2003 M. Ali Brick Lane xiv. 246 Onions sliced to the thickness of a fingernail, mixed with chillies, dipped in gram flour and egg and fried in bubbling oil.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gramgrammen.2
/ɡram/, U.S. /ɡræm/ In the Metric System, the unit of weight; the weight of a cubic centimetre of distilled water at the maximum density, weighed in vacuo. It equals 15.432 grains. Later redefined as a unit of mass equal to 1/1000 of a kilogram n., although it is still used as a unit of force equal to the gram force n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > metric gram(me)
gram1797
G1819
gm1875
1797 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Aug. 197 From the gramme are deduced by multiplication or division all the weights superior and inferior.
1810 Naval Chron. 24 300 The monetary unit is a piece of silver weighing five grams.
1846 G. E. Day tr. J. F. Simon Animal Chem. II. 160 The mean amount of free lactic acid excreted daily..was 2·167 grammes.
1877 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1876 ii. 32 In the system already adopted by the British Association Committee on Dynamical and Electrical Units..the Centimetre, the Gram, and the Second were taken as the units of length, of mass, and of time. [Note] The spelling Gram, instead of Gramme, for the English word is adopted..in accordance with the spelling put forward in the Metric Weights and Measures Act, 1864, which legalizes the use of the Metric System.
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 360 A solution of 50 grams of ferrocyanide of potassium in 100 water.
1892 Proc. 40th Meeting Amer. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 176 Rules for the orthography and pronunciation of chemical terms... Gramme.
1894 J. Parker Thermo-dynamics 3 The weight of a gramme has no definite value unless we specify the place where the weight is to be found, because the weight of a given mass is not quite the same in all parts of the world... The weight of a gramme at Paris is 980·868 dynes.
1898 Rev. Brit. Pharmacy 54 A true cubic centimetre is the volume of 1 gramme of water at 4° C.
1911 G. W. C. Kaye & T. H. Laby Tables Physical & Chem. Constants 3 Mass. Unit—the gramme, 1/1000 of the International Prototype Kilogramme.
1954 Amer. Jrnl. Physics 22 298/1 Weighing in grams..is extremely familiar even though few calculations are carried out in this system [sc. the metric gravitational system], conversion usually being made to the cgs system.
1958 Van Nostrand's Sci. Encycl. (ed. 3) 1744/2 The abbreviation gf is used to indicate gram (force), the unit of force, which is defined as the weight of a one-gram mass under the action of a gravitational acceleration of 980·665 cm/sec2.
1966 J. R. Partington Gen. & Inorg. Chem. (ed. 4) i. 7 1 mol. wt. of a gas at s.t.p...in grams occupies 22·4 lit.
1967 Units & Standards of Measurement: Mechanics (H.M.S.O.) (ed. 4) 10 These densities..are expressed in terms of grammes per millilitre.
1970 Spec. Univ. Syst. desig. Linear Density Textiles (B.S.I.) 5 The linear density in ‘tex’ expresses the mass in grammes of one kilometre of yarn.
Compounds
gram-atom n. the quantity of an element having a mass in grams numerically equal to its atomic weight.
ΚΠ
1899 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 76 ii. 587 The magnetic susceptibility of a number of the elements,..has been determined. The coefficient of susceptibility for each element, when divided by the number of gram-atoms per litre, gives the atomic magnetism.
1938 R. W. Lawson tr. G. von Hevesy & F. A. Paneth Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) i. 7 A divalent ion requires 96,500 coulombs to deposit half a gram-atom.
gram calorie n. = calorie n. (b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > heat > [noun] > unit of heat > of specific amount
kilocalorie1894
gram calorie1902
Q1952
kcal.1954
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 280/1 Small calorie or gramme calorie.
1951 Engineering 29 June 792/2 Expressed in the absolute units of the C.G.S. system,..he had found that a gram-calorie was equal to 4·181 Joules, and the mean gram-calorie corresponded to 4·187 Joules.
gram-centimetre n. a unit equivalent to the ‘work’ done in raising a mass of one gram vertically one centimetre.
ΚΠ
1875 J. D. Everett Illustr. C.G.S. Syst. Units p. x 1 gramme-centimetre = 9·18 × 102 ergs nearly.
gram-degree n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1872 J. D. Everett Deschanel's Elem. Treat. Nat. Philos. II. xxxi. 427 The gramme-degree (Centigrade) is the quantity of heat required to raise a gramme of water 1° (Centigrade).
gram-equivalent n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1897 Webster's Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Gram equivalent (Electrolysis), that quantity of the metal which will replace one gram of hydrogen.
gram force n. a unit of force equal to the weight of a mass of 1 gram, esp. under standard gravity; also called gram and gram weight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > units of force
pound-weight1824
pound-force1865
gram weight1871
dyne1873
kilodyne1873
poundal1875
Gramme1884
Newton1904
kilogram force1905
gram force1909
kip1915
N1951
lbf1961
ounce-force1961
ton-force1961
1909 J. M. Jameson Elem. Pract. Mech. ix. 149 These two units of force, the pound force and the gram force are sometimes called Gravitational Units of Force.
1966 G. W. C. Kaye & T. H. Laby Tables Physical & Chem. Constants (ed. 13) 12 It is often convenient to use submultiples and multiples of these units, e.g., gramme-force (gf), ounce-force (ozf).
gram-ion n. the quantity of an ionic substance having a mass in grams numerically equal to the atomic weight of the ion or the sum of the atomic weights of the constituent atoms.
ΚΠ
1898 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 74 ii. 210 The contraction which occurs when a substance is dissolved in water is proportional to the concentration of the solution..the contraction is about 13·5 c.c...for every dissolved gram ion of an electrolyte.
1902 J. McCrae tr. Arrhenius Text-bk. Electrochem. i. 9 One gram-ion of chlorine signifies 35·45 grams of chlorine in the ionic condition (Cl).
gram-molecule n. the quantity of a substance having a mass in grams numerically equal to its molecular weight; so as adjective.
ΚΠ
1878 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 621/1 When a chemist speaks of acting on a molecule of succinic acid with two molecules of pentachloride of phosphorus, he means that he mixes them in the proportion of 118 parts of the former to 2 × 177·5 of the latter. For the sake of precision we sometimes speak of a molecule of water (or other substance) in grammes, or even of a gramme-molecule, a grain-molecule, &c.
1894 G. S. Newth Text-bk. Inorg. Chem. i. vii. 56 The number of grammes of a substance, equal to the number which represents its molecular weight, is spoken of as the gramme-molecule.
1958 W. K. Mansfield Elem. Nucl. Physics i. 2 It follows that a gramme-molecule of any substance contains the same number of molecules.
gram-molecular adj.
ΚΠ
1906 A. Smith Introd. Gen. Inorg. Chem. xii. 199 It is called, therefore, the gram-molecular volume (G.M.V.) or the molar volume... It may be defined as that volume which contains one mole (gram-molecular weight) of any gas at 0° and 760 mm.
1931 E. C. Miller Plant Physiol. ii. 51 A solution made up after this manner is termed a ‘molar’,..‘gram-molecular’, or ‘molecular’ normal solution.
gram-rad n. a unit of the energy absorbed by any quantity of a substance when irradiated with ionizing radiation, equal to 100 ergs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > measurement of ionizing radiation > [noun] > unit of energy absorbed
gram-rad1954
1954 Brit. Jrnl. Radiol. 27 243/2 Integral absorbed dose is the integration of the energy absorbed throughout a given region of interest. The unit is the gramme-rad. 1 gramme-rad = 100 ergs.
1963 E. H. Quimby & S. Feitelberg Radioactive Isotopes in Med. & Biol. viii. 120 The maximum permissible dose to a normal individual in 3 months is 3 rads of radiation to the whole body... For a 70 kg man this would be an integral dose of 210,000 gram-rads.
gram weight n. = gram force n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > units of force
pound-weight1824
pound-force1865
gram weight1871
dyne1873
kilodyne1873
poundal1875
Gramme1884
Newton1904
kilogram force1905
gram force1909
kip1915
N1951
lbf1961
ounce-force1961
ton-force1961
1871 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 42 375 The value of T′ is about ·074 of a gramme weight per centimetre.
1894 J. Parker Thermo-dynamics 3 The value of this arbitrary unit of pressure is found to be 1033·279 gramme-weights, or 1,013,510 dynes, per square centimetre.
1960 Amer. Jrnl. Physics 28 480/1 The weight of a body is a force measured in dynes or gram weight.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Gramn.3
/ɡram/, U.S. /ɡræm/ Microbiology.
I. Compounds.
1. As a modifier (also in the genitive). Designating a method of staining used to identify and classify bacteria and certain other microorganisms, esp. in Gram stain.The technique of Gram staining involves several steps: an initial staining with a purple dye (gentian violet), fixation of the colour with an iodine solution, washing with alcohol or acetone, and a final staining with a red dye. Some microorganisms retain the purple dye and are known as Gram-positive; Gram-negative organisms lose the purple colour and are stained by the red dye. These staining properties are determined mainly by the structure and peptidoglycan content of the microorganism's cell wall, and correlate with the response of the microorganism to certain types of antibiotic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > processes > [noun] > using stains or dyes
overstaining1880
Gram stain1884
Nissl method1895
osmication1899
counterstaining1901
cytophotometry1952
polychroming1958
immunofluorescence1960
the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > material > [noun] > staining material
osmium tetroxide1869
picrocarmine1872
rose bengal1878
stain1880
erythrosin1884
Gram stain1884
vesuvin1885
Nile blue1888
pyronin1895
Janus green1898
counterstain1899
Nissl stain1899
Leishman stain1904
trypan blue1911
quinacrine mustard1957
1884 Edinb. Clin. & Pathol. Jrnl. 12 July 804 Dr. M. Afanassiw of St. Petersburg..recommends the following modification of Dr. Gram's method.]
1884 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 6 Sept. 487/2 Gram's method gives good results with many bacteria.
1888 Lancet 6 Oct. 684/2 The organs and blood, after being treated with Gram's stain, were found to contain cocci.
1906 Jrnl. Infectious Dis. 3 495 The Gram stain has, however, been used on all our cultures, since, in the genus Diplococcus and in many other groups, it has been thought to have such special significance.
1964 M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 8) v. 44 All [bacteria] may be placed into one of two broad groups according to whether they stain by Gram's technique.
2009 B. L. Waters Handbk. Autopsy Pract. (ed. 4) vii. 87/1 There is no reason to culture acute perforations of bowel since both Gram stain and culture will point to fecal flora.
2. Gram's solution n. a solution used in the Gram stain; spec. a solution of iodine and potassium iodide in water, used as a mordant to fix the purple dye.
ΚΠ
1885 Lancet 24 Oct. 759/1 The sections were left one and a half to two days in methyl violet and decolourised by Gram's solution.
1887 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. 93 438 When the specimen is afterward put in Gram's solution the bacteria adhering to it are stained.
2007 S. L. Fleming Helicobacter Pylori 47 After about 30 seconds, the Gram's solution is rinsed with ethyl alcohol and the slide is covered with another dye such as eosin or fuchsin.
3.
a. Gram staining n. and adj. (a) n. staining of a preparation of microorganisms or tissue with the Gram stain; (b) adj. (frequently in form gram-staining) that exhibits a dark purple colour after Gram staining (= Gram-positive adj.).
ΚΠ
1893 Trans. Assoc. Amer. Physicians 8 175 The organisms found in this case conform with the gonococci, in that they were all decolorized by the Gram staining.
1895 Southern Practitioner Apr. 152 There are also a few microscopical abscesses whose walls are covered with a Gram-staining, rod-shaped organism.
1955 Biogr. Mem. Fellows Royal Soc. 1 199 A strictly anaerobic, Gram-staining bacillus was..found, which rapidly and completely destroyed creatine.
1962 Public Health Rep. 77 655/1 Laboratory tests consisted of a smear of the urethral discharge for gram staining on the initial visit.
2008 B. S. Weeks & I. E. Alcamo Microbes & Society (ed. 2) v. 96 Gram staining is a key first step in describing the characteristics of a bacterium.
b. Gram-stained adj. that has undergone Gram staining.
ΚΠ
1898 Lancet 17 Dec. 1618/1 In a different category must be placed the instances in which in Gram-stained preparations a difference in tint is discovered.
1961 Lancet 29 July 228/1 To avoid errors due to contamination, Gram-stained films of the growth were examined.
2004 Clin. Infectious Dis. 39 165 Clinicians continue to question the usefulness of microscopic examination of Gram-stained sputum specimens..and sputum culture for diagnosis of pneumonia.
4.
a. Gram-negative adj. that exhibits a red or pink colour after Gram staining.
ΚΠ
1898 Trans. Amer. Gynecol. Soc. 23 173 (table) Gram negative, colorless growth on potato.
1925 C. H. Browning Bacteriology ii. 32 Certain bacteria part with the violet stain and are consequently counterstained red with the fuchsine; these are Gram-negative organisms.
2008 New Yorker 11 Aug. 48/2 In the nineteen-eighties, a class of drugs called carbapenems was developed to combat gram-negative organisms like Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, and Acinetobacter.
b. Gram-positive adj. that exhibits a dark purple colour after Gram staining.
ΚΠ
1898 Trans. Amer. Gynecol. Soc. 23 173 (table) Non-motile, Gram positive.
1964 M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 8) v. 45 The organisms are first stained with methyl-violet or gentian-violet and then treated with iodine as a mordant; Gram-positive bacteria then resist decolourization by alcohol.
2007 Independent 23 Oct. (Extra section) 12/3 He based this on research showing that gram-positive bacteria..are killed by chemicals in cashew apples, cashew shell oil, and probably cashew nuts.
II. Simple uses.
5. The Gram stain.
ΚΠ
1889 Proc. N.Y. Pathol. Soc. 1888 156 The bacilli..are in very small numbers and stain by Gram.
1901 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 21 Sept. 786/2 Of course there are species which behave very inconstantly towards Gram.
1972 Zinsser's Microbiol. (ed. 15) lxvi. 703/2 They [sc. intracellular colonies of Chlamydia trachomatis] are basophilic, stain mahogany with iodine stain, negative with Gram.
2006 A. C. Ouwehand et al. in I. Goktepe et al. Probiotics in Food Safety & Human Health xviii. 413 The cells are then washed.., fixed with acetone, and stained with Giemsa or fixed with methanol and stained with Gram.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2022).
gramn.4
/ɡram/, U.S. /ɡræm/ colloquial.
1. = telegram n. or cablegram n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telegraphy > [noun] > telegraphic message
telegraph message1806
telegraph1821
telegram1852
wire1856
flash1857
telegrapheme1857
telepheme1857
gram1891
tar1893
1891 ‘F. Leslie’ Let. 24 Aug. in W. T. Vincent Recoll. F. Leslie (1893) II. xxv. 140 I wired you date of production and result, and sincerely hope the 'grams reached you safely.
1928 Sunday Express 19 Aug. 1 Grams: ‘Mould~board, London.’ Phones: 1615 1616 East.
1960 P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing iii. 37 What's a guffin?.. That's what she calls you in her latest 'gram.
1964 P. G. Wodehouse Frozen Assets iii. 51 I cabled the New York lawyers asking if..there was some small legacy coming my way, and back comes this gram informing me that I cop the lot.
2. = gramophone n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > sound recording or reproducing equipment > [noun] > record-playing equipment
phonograph1877
gramophone1887
Victrola1905
record player1913
box1916
radio phonograph1922
phono1925
Panatrope1926
radio-gramophone1927
radiogram1929
hi-fi1938
player1948
music centre1956
lo-fi1957
stereogram1958
gram1959
mid-fi1960
stereo1964
unit audio1966
wind-up1975
1959 New Statesman 26 Dec. 904/3 The thing he wanted to buy most in the world was a gram and lots of jazz records.
1970 Guardian 24 Dec. 9/3 There was Edmundo Ros and his Cuban band on the gram.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gramn.5
/ɡram/, U.S. /ɡræm/ North American colloquial.
One's grandmother, or a grandmother. Usually as a form of address, or as a title preceding a name.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > grandparent > [noun] > grandmother
eldmotherc1000
grandamc1225
good-dame1400
grandmother1424
beldamc1440
lucky1629
granny1659
grandmama1694
lucky minnie1755
grandma1772
grandmammy1789
gran1829
babushka1834
abuela1836
grandmom1860
grandmum1861
grammy1886
dadi1888
minnie1888
grams1893
bubbe1895
nana1899
gram1923
nanny1927
lola1934
abuelita1937
oma1948
nain1954
nan1955
makulu1980
omi1988
1923 Washington Post 24 Feb. 8 Grandmother took off her glasses and leaned her head against the back of her chair... ‘'S matter, Gram?’ asked Bob.
1976 F. A. Hoffmann in V. Randolph Pissing in Snow vi. 14 (note) Old Gram French, who suggests the trick,..belongs to a long line of grannies who..assist frustrated swains in gaining the objects of their desires.
1993 Canad. Living 29 Dec. 37/1 Whether the holidays find you greeting returning college kids or Gram and Gramps or friends from far away, you'll want to kick off the season with a menu that says ‘Welcome’.
2006 Wall St. Jrnl. 23 Oct. a12/6 ‘Gram took care of me,’ says Ms. Bailey, recalling a period years back when she was ill and her grandmother ministered to her.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : -gramcomb. form
<
n.11702n.21797n.31884
n.41891n.51923see also