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Groom

//ɡɹuːm// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    An English surname originating as an occupation for a servant. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A town in Carson County, Texas, United States. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    A man who is about to marry.
  2. 2
    A person who looks after horses.

    "Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid."

  3. 3
    a man who has recently been married wordnet
  4. 4
    One of several officers of the English royal household, chiefly in the lord chamberlain's department.

    "the groom of the chamber; the groom of the stole"

  5. 5
    a man participant in his own marriage ceremony wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    A male servant, or more generally, a common man. archaic

    "The needy groom, that never finger'd groat, Would make a miracle of thus much coin …"

  2. 7
    someone employed in a stable to take care of the horses wordnet
  3. 8
    A brushing or cleaning, as of a dog or horse.

    "Give the mare a quick groom before you take her out."

Verb
  1. 1
    To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
  2. 2
    care for one's external appearance wordnet
  3. 3
    To care for (horses or other animals) by brushing and cleaning them. transitive

    "2010 (April 20) "The Collection" s1e6 of TV series Justified The wife didn't care about riding, but Owen did. Well, he cared about me. I went from doing everything — grooming, feeding, looking out — to being handed the reins of the most magnificent creatures ready to ride."

  4. 4
    give a neat appearance to wordnet
  5. 5
    To prepare (someone) for an event transitive

    "It appears that Broderick's seconds, although cool, brave men, were entirely without experience in arranging a duel, and did not know that a man should be groomed for one as carefully as a horse is groomed for a race."

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    educate for a future role or function wordnet
  2. 7
    To prepare (someone) for election or appointment. transitive

    "It is of special interest to note the subjects considered as important to those who are being groomed for top administrative posts"

  3. 8
    To gain, or attempt to gain, the trust of a child or vulnerable person in order to take advantage of or exploit them, especially sexually (if under the age of consent). transitive

    "2009, Suzanne Ost, Child Pornography and Sexual Grooming: Legal and Societal Responses"

  4. 9
    In agile software development, to review and prioritize the items in the development backlog. transitive
  5. 10
    To prepare (a ski slope) for skiers by packing down the snow. transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

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.

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