crumb

crumb · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*krumô
2. Old English · inherited fromcruma“crumb, fragment”
3. Middle English · inherited fromcrome
4. English todaycrumb

From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *krūmô (“fragment, crumb”). The b is unetymological, as in limb, and first appeared in the mid-15th century, influenced by crumble and words such as dumb, numb, and thumb. Cognate with Dutch kruim (“crumb”), Low German Krome, Krume (“crumb”), German Krume (“crumb”), Danish krumme (“crumb”), Swedish dialectal krumma (“crumb”), Swedish in kråm (“crumbs, giblets”), Icelandic krumur (“crumb”), Latin grūmus (“a little heap”).

Crumb · proper noun²

English, Scottish, and Irish surname, spelling variant of Crum.

Words from the same roots