gram

¹

[ gram ]

noun

1. a metric unit of mass or weight equal to 15.432 grains; one thousandth of a kilogram. : g

-gram

²

1. a combining form occurring in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “something written,” “drawing” ( epigram; diagram ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words ( oscillogram ).

gram

³

[ gram ]

noun

1. (in the East Indies) the chickpea used as a food for people and cattle.
2. any of several other beans, as the mung bean, Vigna radiata green gram, or golden gram, or the urd, V. mungo black gram.

-gram

⁴

1. a combining form of gram ¹:

   kilogram.

-gram

⁵

1. a combining form extracted from telegram, used in the formation of compound words that have the general sense “message, bulletin”:

   culturegram; electiongram; prophecy-gram.

Gram

⁶

[ grahm ]

noun

1. (in the Volsunga Saga ) the sword of Sigmund, broken by Odin, repaired by Regin, and used again by Sigurd in killing Fafnir.

gram.

⁷

abbreviation for

1. grammar.
2. grammarian.
3. grammatical.

gram

¹

/ ɡræm /

noun

1. any of several leguminous plants, such as the beans Phaseolus mungo ( black gram or urd ) and P. aureus ( green gram ), whose seeds are used as food in India
2. the seed of any of these plants

gram

²

/ ɡrɑːm /

noun

1. (in India) a village

-gram

³

combining form

1. indicating a drawing or something written or recorded

   telegram

   hexagram

gram.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. grammar
2. grammatical

gram

⁵

/ ɡræm /

noun

1. a metric unit of mass equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. It is equivalent to 15.432 grains or 0.002 205 pounds g

Gram

¹

/ gräm,grăm /

1. Danish bacteriologist who in 1884 developed a method of staining bacteria, called Gram's stain or Gram's dye, that is used to identify and classify bacteria, often from samples of infected body fluids. The classification, called gram-negative or gram-positive, can be useful in the initial selection of antibiotics to treat the infection.

gram

²

/ grăm /

1. A unit of mass in the metric system, equal to 0.001 kilogram or 0.035 ounce.
2. See Table at measurement

gram

1. The basic unit of measurement for mass in the metric system ; one cubic centimeter of water has a mass of approximately one gram.

Word History and Origins

Origin of gram¹

1790–1800; < French gramme < Late Latin gramma a small weight < Greek grámma something drawn, a small weight

Origin of gram²

< Greek -gramma, combining form of grámma something written or drawn; akin to carve

Origin of gram³

First recorded in 1695–1705; from Portuguese grão, from Latin grānum “seed, grain, kernel”; grain

Origin of gram⁴

From the Old Norse word Gramr literally, angry, evil

Word History and Origins

Origin of gram¹

C18: from Portuguese gram (modern spelling grão ), from Latin grānum grain

Origin of gram²

Hindi

Origin of gram³

from Latin -gramma, from Greek, from gramma letter and grammē line

Origin of gram⁴

C18: from French gramme, from Late Latin gramma, from Greek: small weight, from graphein to write

Example Sentences

He was gifted with a superhuman taste sensitivity: He could easily distinguish a flavor at one ten thousandth of a gram in a fifteen ton batch.

From Salon

For the record, the daily recommendation for fiber is 25 grams for women and 38 for men under 50; its slightly less for those over 50.

From Salon

Make protein the focus of each meal and aim to consume roughly 25-40 grams — or about one to two palm-sized portions — of protein for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

From Salon

Authorities said they were able to purchase more than 14 grams of fentanyl from Gamal, who mailed undercover detectives the drug from California.

From Los Angeles Times

Additionally, the consumption of 100 grams of unprocessed red meat a day — or the “equivalent to a small steak” — was associated with a 10% higher risk of Type 2 diabetes.

From Salon

Related Words

• ancestor
• grandma
• granny
• matriarch