Etymology

cram

C3R1A1M3

Today it means: To press, force, or drive, particularly in filling, or in thrusting one thing into another; to stuff; to fill to superfluity. Full definition →

Middle English crammen ← Old English crammian ← Proto-West Germanic *krammōn
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*ger-“to assemble; collect; gather”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*krammōną
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*krammōn
  4. Old English · inherited fromcrammian“to cram; stuff”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromcrammen
  6. English todaycram

From Middle English crammen, from Old English crammian (“to cram; stuff”), from Proto-West Germanic *krammōn, from Proto-Germanic *krammōną, a secondary verb derived from *krimmaną (“to stuff”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to assemble; collect; gather”). Compare Old English crimman (“to cram; stuff; insert; press; bruise”), Icelandic kremja (“to squeeze; crush; bruise”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*ger- all →

creekcrouchgrapplecrutchcrinklescratcratchcroche

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.