gram

¹

especially British, gramme

[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.

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

gram.

⁷

abbreviation

1. grammar.

2. grammarian.

3. grammatical.

gram

¹

/ ɡræm /

noun

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

gram

²

/ 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

³

/ ɡrɑːm /

noun

1. (in India) a village

-gram

⁴

combining form

1. indicating a drawing or something written or recorded

   hexagram

   telegram

gram.

⁵

abbreviation

1. grammar

2. grammatical

gram

¹

1. A unit of mass in the metric system, equal to 0.001 kilogram or 0.035 ounce.

2. See Table at measurement

Gram

²

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

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

Origin of gram²

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

Origin of gram³

Hindi

Origin of gram⁴

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

Example Sentences

Leadon recalls with a grin, “I said, ‘Well, Gram, it’s interesting, but I don’t have a trust fund like you do, so I’m not self-funded like you are.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The Byrds, with the addition of country-rock icon Gram Parsons, made a lasting mark in 1968 with “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Gram was very reverential about the Opry stars, but the audience wasn’t ready for it. Of course, a few years later, everybody had long hair, and then you had Southern rock.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“When we got to England to start the third album, Gram Parsons had just died, but I didn’t know until I landed,” he says.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

While it's understood our bodies produce one gram of it naturally, the rest comes from high-protein food like meat and fish.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• ancestor 
• grandma 
• granny 
• matriarch 

When To Use

What does -gram mean?

The combining form -gram is used like a suffix that has three distinct senses.The first of these senses is “something written” or "drawing" and this form of -gram is frequently used in a variety of scientific and technical terms. This meaning of -gram comes from Greek grámma, meaning “something written or drawn.”The second of these senses is “gram,” as in "one-thousandth of a kilogram," and this form of -gram is occasionally used in a variety of technical terms. This meaning of -gram also ultimately comes from Greek grámma but in the sense of "a small weight."The third of these senses is “message; bulletin.” This form of -gram is very occasionally used in a variety of technical terms, and its meaning is extracted from telegram. Find out more about the word telegram at our entry for the word.