gram

¹ American  

[gram] / græm /

especially British, gramme

noun

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

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gram ² American  

[gram] / græm /

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.

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Gram ³ American  

[grahm] / grɑm /

noun

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

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-gram ⁴ American  

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 ).

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-gram ⁵ American  

1. a combining form of gram.

   kilogram.

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-gram ⁶ American  

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.

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gram. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. grammar.

2. grammarian.

3. grammatical.

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gram ¹ British  

/ 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

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-gram ² British  

combining form

1. indicating a drawing or something written or recorded

   hexagram

   telegram

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gram ³ British  

/ 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

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gram ⁴ British  

/ ɡrɑːm /

noun

1. (in India) a village

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gram. ⁵ British  

abbreviation

1. grammar

2. grammatical

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Gram ¹ Scientific  

/ 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.

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gram ² Scientific  

/ grăm /

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

2. See Table at measurement

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gram Cultural  

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

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Usage

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.

Etymology

Origin of gram¹

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

Origin of gram²

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

Origin of Gram³

From the Old Norse word Gramr literally, angry, evil

Origin of -gram⁴

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

Explanation

A gram is a unit of measurement. Some doctors recommend eating one gram of protein for each kilogram of body weight. Because a gram is a metric unit — in this case, measuring the mass of some object or substance — it isn't used as commonly in the US as it is in Britain and Canada, where metric measurements are standard. Still if you examine an American food label, you'll almost always see the mass in grams listed. The Greek root of gram is gramma, or "small weight."

Example Sentences

The fragments vary widely in size, from less than 1 gram to 85.4 grams, and can measure up to 5 centimeters along their longest dimension.

From Science Daily • Mar. 1, 2026

That is up from the current recommendation that healthy adults consume 0.8 gram.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

One gram of exported Haitian eels -- seven to 10 actual specimens -- can be sold for between $3.60 and $4.50, with the fishermen paid between 50 cents and $1.50 a kilogram.

From Barron's • Nov. 18, 2025

Although Italy's foreign ministry announced that the patriarchs had entered Gaza with 500 tonnes of aid, Pizzaballa said "not a gram" had yet been able to enter due to logistical issues.

From BBC • Jul. 23, 2025

And that was with my mom’s sisters, my gram and grandpa, her friends and cousins all around.

From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko

Related Words

• ancestor
• grandma
• granny
• matriarch