Meanings
coomb1
plural coombs · alternative comb
- An old English measure of corn (e.g., wheat), equal to half a quarter or 4 bushels.
It was equal to half a quarter, i.e. is identical with the coomb of the eastern counties.
1866, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 1, page 1681 more example
Two kilderkins, or strikes, make a measure called a barrel, liquid, and a coomb, dry; this last term being ancient and little used.
1790 July 13, Thomas Jefferson, U.S. Secretary of State, Plan for establishing uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States," report communicated to the House of Representatives
coomb2
plural coombs
- alternativeAlternative spelling of combe.
From the centre of each side of this tree-bound square ran avenues east, west, and south into the wide expanse of corn-land and coomb to the distance of a mile or so.
1896, Thomas Hardy, chapter 4, in The Mayor of Casterbridge
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gew-“to bend, curve”
- Proto-Germanic*kumbaz“bowl, vessel”
- Proto-West Germanic*kumb
- Old Englishcumb“a vessel; a liquid measure”
- Middle English*coumb
- Englishcoomb
From Middle English *coumb, *comb, *cumb (> Scots cumb, coom (“tub, cistern”)), from Old English cumb (“a vessel; a liquid measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *kumb, from Proto-Germanic *kumbaz (“bowl, vessel”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve”). Cognate with Dutch kom (“basin, bowl”), German Kumpf (“bowl”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with coomb
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Cite this entry
coomb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coomb
“coomb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coomb. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coomb,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coomb.
Source: coomb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.