groom

groom · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*dʰǵʰm̥mō
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*gumô“man, person”
3. Old English · derived frombrȳdguma“bridegroom”
4. Middle English · derived frombrydgrome
5. English todaygroom

1604, short for bridegroom (“husband-to-be”), from Middle English brydgrome, alteration (with intrusive r) of earlier bridegome (“bridegroom”), from Old English brȳdguma (“bridegroom”), from brȳd (“bride”) + guma (“man, hero”). In Middle English, the second element was re-analyzed as or influenced by grom, grome (“attendant”). Guma derives from Proto-Germanic *gumô (“man, person”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰm̥mō; it is cognate to Icelandic gumi (cf. Icelandic brúðgumi) and Norwegian gume and, ultimately, human.

groom · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*grōaną“to grow”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*grōm“swollen belly, stomach tumour, womb-child, fish roe, fish guts”
3. Old English · inherited from*grōm
4. Middle English · inherited fromgrom
5. English todaygroom

From Middle English grom, grome (“man-child, boy, youth”), of uncertain origin. Apparently related to Middle Dutch grom (“boy”), Old Icelandic grómr, gromr (“man, manservant, boy”), Old French gromme (“manservant”), and also to Middle Dutch grom (“fish guts”), Middle Low German grôm (“fish guts”), from the same Proto-Germanic root. Possibly from Old English *grōm, from Proto-West Germanic *grōm (“swollen belly, stomach tumour, womb-child, fish roe, fish guts”), from Proto-Germanic *grōaną (“to grow”). Alternative etymology describes Middle English grom, grome as an alteration of gome (“man”) with an intrusive r (also found in bridegroom, hoarse, cartridge, etc.), with the Middle Dutch and Old Icelandic cognates following similar variation of their respective forms.

Words from the same roots