English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English dragme, dramme, from Old French dragme, drame, from Late Latin dragma, from Latin drachma, from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ, “unit of weight; a handful”). Doublet of drachma, diram, dirham, dirhem, and adarme.
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /dɹæm/
- Rhymes: -æm
Noun[edit]
dram (plural drams)
- (units of measurement) A small unit of weight, variously:
- One sixteenth of an ounce avoirdupois (approximately 1.77 g).
- (pharmacy) Alternative form of drachm (“1⁄8 ounce apothecary (3.89 g) (symbol: ℨ)”).
- (now uncommon) Synonym of dirhem: a former Turkish unit of weight (variously 1.5–3.5 g).
- 1888, W.M.F. Petrie, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. XXIV, s.v. «Weights and Measures»:
- Dram (49·5 grains), 100=chequi, 4=oka (2·8286 ℔); dram (49·5 grains), 180=rotl, 100=kintal or kantar (127·29 ℔).
- 1888, W.M.F. Petrie, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. XXIV, s.v. «Weights and Measures»:
- (obsolete) Synonym of drachma: a former Greek unit of weight (about 4.3 g).
- (by extension) Any similarly minute quantity, (now particularly) a small amount of strong alcohol or poison.
-
a dram of brandy
-
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719, →OCLC, pages 281–282:
-
When Friday came to him I bade him ſpeak to him, and tell him of his Deliverance, and pulling out my Bottle, made him give the poor Wretch a Dram, which, with the News of his being deliver’d, reviv’d him, and he ſat up in the Boat […]
-
-
1920, Marshall Walker; Will E. Skidmore (lyrics and music), “Save a Little Dram for Me”[1], performed by Bert Williams:
-
Oh, brethren, if you wants more preachin’
Save a little dram for me (Glory hallelujah!)
Drinkin’ gin ain’t against my teachin’
-
-
- (historical, mining) A cart formerly used to haul coal in coal mines.
-
1946 November and December, “The Saundersfoot Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 340:
-
The rolling stock, consisting entirely of four-wheel open trucks, or drams, was broken up at Bonvilles Court Colliery.
-
-
- (obsolete) Synonym of drachma: a Greek silver coin weighing one drachma; other similar coins.
- The Bible (King James Version), Ezra 2:69
- They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work threescore and one thousand drams [i.e., the Persian daric] of gold, and five thousand pound of silver […]
- The Bible (King James Version), Ezra 2:69
Synonyms[edit]
- (small amount of something): mite, smidge, smidgeon, bit, pinch
- (small amount of alcohol): nip, shot, slug, snifter, tot
Derived terms[edit]
- angel’s dram
- dram shop liability
Descendants[edit]
- → Danish: dram
- → Faroese: drammur
- → Norwegian: dram
- → Scottish Gaelic: dràm
Translations[edit]
1⁄8 ounce apothecary — see drachm
Verb[edit]
dram (third-person singular simple present drams, present participle dramming, simple past and past participle drammed)
- (dated, intransitive) To drink drams.
-
1857, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, Recollections of a Lifetime:
-
What I contend against is, this dramming, dramming, dramming, at all hours of the day. There are some men who take a glass at eleven o’clock in the forenoon, and at four in the afternoon.
-
-
- (dated, transitive) To ply with drams of drink.
Etymology 2[edit]
From Armenian դրամ (dram), from Middle Persian 𐭦𐭥𐭦𐭭 (zʿzn /drahm/)[[Category:|DRAM]], from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ, “unit of weight, a handful”), from δράσσομαι (drássomai, “I hold, seize”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /dɹæm/, /dɹɑm/
Noun[edit]
dram (plural drams)
- (numismatics) The currency of Armenia, divided into 100 luma.
Translations[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
- AMDR, Adm’r, RADM, RAdm, arm’d, mard
Danish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from English dram, from Old French drame, variant of dragme.
Noun[edit]
dram c (singular definite drammen, plural indefinite dramme or drammer)
- dram (a small quantity of an alcoholic drink)
Inflection[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- Rhymes: -ɑm
Verb[edit]
dram
- first-person singular present indicative of drammen
- imperative of drammen
Anagrams[edit]
- darm, R’dam
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From English dram, from Old French drame, from Latin drachma, from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). Doublet of drakme.
Noun[edit]
dram m (definite singular drammen, indefinite plural drammer, definite plural drammene)
- a dram, nip, shot (usually of brandy)
References[edit]
- “dram” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
- “dram” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From English dram, from Old French drame, from Latin drachma, from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ). Doublet of drakme.
Noun[edit]
dram m (definite singular drammen, indefinite plural drammar, definite plural drammane)
- a dram, nip, shot (usually of brandy)
References[edit]
- “dram” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old Frisian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-West Germanic *draum.
Noun[edit]
drām m
- a dream
Inflection[edit]
Declension of drām (masculine a-stem)
Descendants[edit]
- North Frisian: drom
- Saterland Frisian: Droom
- West Frisian: dream
Romanian[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /ˈdram/
- Rhymes: -am
Etymology 1[edit]
From Greek δράμι (drámi), from Byzantine Greek δράμι (drámi), from Arabic دِرْهَم (dirham), from Middle Persian 𐭦𐭥𐭦𐭭 (drahm), from Ancient Greek δραχμή f (drakhmḗ, “drachma”).
Noun[edit]
dram n (plural dramuri)
- (historical) dram (unit of measurement)
- (figurative) tiny amount
Declension[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
From Armenian դրամ (dram), from Middle Persian 𐭦𐭥𐭦𐭭 (drahm), from Ancient Greek δραχμή (drakhmḗ).
Noun[edit]
dram m (plural drami)
- (numismatics) dram (currency of Armenia)
Declension[edit]
Declension of dram
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) dram | dramul | (niște) drami | dramii |
genitive/dative | (unui) dram | dramului | (unor) drami | dramilor |
vocative | dramule | dramilor |
References[edit]
- dram in DEX online — Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
Recent Examples on the Web
There’s no shortage of great places to enjoy a good dram in New York City.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 3 Feb. 2023
Notes of vanilla cream, toffee and coconut characterize this multi-award winning dram.
—Claudia Alarcón, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023
Well, a dram is more than a nip.
—Olivia Hosken, Town & Country, 10 Nov. 2020
My cider and dram of Calvados was soon joined by a dish of pickled carrots, green beans and asparagus ($5) alongside a bowl of peanuts tossed in Old Bay seasoning ($4), and a plate graced by a few batons of toasty bread and a tin of anchovies packed in olive oil ($5).
—Paul Stephen, ExpressNews.com, 27 Oct. 2020
This intrepid reporter stuck with one dram of Sherry Oak 18 Years, which sounds better when using a Sean Connery accent in your head.
—Jon Alain Guzik, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Mar. 2023
His final on-screen performance was as Papa in Ashley Judd’s 2006 southern rom-dram, Come Early Morning.
—Kate Hogan, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2023
The genius of this dram begins with the nose: bright and brimming with baking spice and stewed orchard fruit.
—Brad Japhe, Forbes, 25 June 2022
Overall: This is a well layered and well balanced dram.
—Felipe Schrieberg, Forbes, 28 June 2022
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘dram.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The word dram is a contracted form of the word drachma from Late Latin and Old French. In middle English the word was dragme. It was originally used to describe a minute quantity of something.
Druggists and apothecaries used the word dram as a unit of measurement meaning 1/8 of an ounce, or sixty grains.
The U.S customary system, which uses the Avoirdupois mass (weight) units, uses the dram (drachm) to mean 1/16 of an ounce, or 27.34 grains.
Notice that both the Apothecaries and the Avoirdupois systems use the grain as a basic unit of mass.
They both also have ounces, but as you can see, the relationship between grains and ounces is different in each.
In case you are wondering, the US Customary System and the British Imperial System are identical, except that they differ when it comes to units larger than a pound.
Similar to the British pound, when the value of coins was based on the actual amount of precious metal they contained, the word dram was sometimes used to describe a monetary unit, and still is today, in some countries, such as Armenia, where 100 Luma equals one Dram and there are dram coins valued from three up to 500 Dram.
The biblical dram
In fact, dram as a way of describing money or treasure, is mentioned in the Bible in 1 Chronicles 29.7. There, the writer (which may have been Ezra), uses the word as a familiar way of describing an amount of treasure for “The service of the house of God” in the days of David:
And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. – (King James Version)
Later English Editions of the Bible sometimes replace the word dram with daric.
Later on in the bible, dram it is used to describe the Persian daric. The Hebrew words originally used were probably adarkon and darkemon and the Greek word for this was dareikos. This coin was currency among the Jews after their return from Babylon while under Persian domination. It was about 128 Troy grains (about 15 grams or 1/2 oz) and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, coin mentioned in any written history.
For instance, in the book of Ezra 2.69:
They gave after their ability unto the treasure of the work three-score and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pieces of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.
Dram is also mentioned in Ezra 8.27.
And also in Nehemiah 7.70-72:
And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold…
There are several more mentions through verse 72.
Although the word dram was originally used colloquially to mean a small quantity of anything, it eventually came to be used primarily to describe an amount of liquid of drink, specifically the amount of liquid drunk all at once. For instance, you might have heard, “I’m dying of thirst, can you give me a dram of water?”
At some point, during the 1800’s, dram came to refer only to spirits, rather than any drink and a dram was both the drink itself, such as whiskey, or the act of drinking it. So, to dram was to drink drams, usually referring to small drinks, such as taking a “dram of brandy.” A person who imbibed regularly was known as a dram-drinker.
Dram is often thought of as a Scottish word and is found in the name of the Scotch Whiskey liqueur, Drambuie and liqueurs were also called sweet drams.
The word was also used to name a Jamaican allspice flavored rum liqueur, called Allspice dram, Jamaican dram, or Pimento dram.
References
1. Webster, Noah. American Dictionary of the English Language: Exhibiting the Origin, Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definitions of Words. New York: S. Converse, 1830.
2. Physics Quick Study Guide (for Smartphones and Mobile Devices). n.p. Http://books.google.com/books?id=QDDLstn917IC&lpg=PP1&pg=PT3#v=onepage&q&f=false. MobileReference, 2007. Web. 26 June 2012
3. The Bible: King James Version. The World Publishing Company. c.1958.
You May Be Interested in These Articles
Definitions For Dram
noun
- The basic unit of money in Armenia
- 1/16 ounce or 1.771 grams
- A unit of apothecary weight equal to an eighth of an ounce or to 60 grains
Words With Friends
YES
Scrabble US
YES
Scrabble UK
YES
English International (SOWPODS)
YES
Scrabble Global
YES
Enable1 Dictionary
YES
Points in Different Games
Scrabble
7
Words with Friends
8
The word Dram is worth 7 points in Scrabble and 8 points in Words with Friends
Synonyms for Dram
drachm
drachma
Words that Start with Dram
Words that End with Dram
Words that Contain with Dram
Words that Rhyme with Dram
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD DRAM
From Old French dragme, from Late Latin dragma, from Greek drakhmē.
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
PRONUNCIATION OF DRAM
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DRAM
Dram is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.
WHAT DOES DRAM MEAN IN ENGLISH?
Definition of dram in the English dictionary
The first definition of dram in the dictionary is one sixteenth of an ounce. 1 dram is equivalent to 0.0018 kilogram. Other definition of dram is Also called: drachm, drachma one eighth of an apothecaries’ ounce; 60 grains. 1 dram is equivalent to 0.0039 kilogram. Dram is also a small amount of an alcoholic drink, esp a spirit; tot.
WORDS THAT RHYME WITH DRAM
Synonyms and antonyms of dram in the English dictionary of synonyms
SYNONYMS OF «DRAM»
The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «dram» and belong to the same grammatical category.
Translation of «dram» into 25 languages
TRANSLATION OF DRAM
Find out the translation of dram to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of dram from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «dram» in English.
Translator English — Chinese
DRAM
1,325 millions of speakers
Translator English — Spanish
dram
570 millions of speakers
English
dram
510 millions of speakers
Translator English — Hindi
घूंट
380 millions of speakers
Translator English — Arabic
الدرام
280 millions of speakers
Translator English — Russian
драм
278 millions of speakers
Translator English — Portuguese
dram
270 millions of speakers
Translator English — Bengali
সুরাবিশেষ
260 millions of speakers
Translator English — French
drachme
220 millions of speakers
Translator English — Malay
Dram
190 millions of speakers
Translator English — German
dram
180 millions of speakers
Translator English — Japanese
ドラム
130 millions of speakers
Translator English — Korean
DRAM
85 millions of speakers
Translator English — Javanese
Dram
85 millions of speakers
Translator English — Vietnamese
đơn vị
80 millions of speakers
Translator English — Tamil
டிராம்
75 millions of speakers
Translator English — Marathi
नाटक
75 millions of speakers
Translator English — Turkish
dirhem
70 millions of speakers
Translator English — Italian
dramma
65 millions of speakers
Translator English — Polish
dram
50 millions of speakers
Translator English — Ukrainian
драм
40 millions of speakers
Translator English — Romanian
dram
30 millions of speakers
Translator English — Greek
ντραμ
15 millions of speakers
Translator English — Afrikaans
dram
14 millions of speakers
Translator English — Swedish
sup
10 millions of speakers
Translator English — Norwegian
dram
5 millions of speakers
Trends of use of dram
TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «DRAM»
The term «dram» is very widely used and occupies the 17.466 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «dram» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of dram
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «dram».
FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «DRAM» OVER TIME
The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «dram» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «dram» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.
Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about dram
10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DRAM»
Discover the use of dram in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to dram and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
DRAM Circuit Design: Fundamental and High-Speed Topics
Focusing on the chip designer rather than the end user, this volume offers expanded, up-to-date coverage of DRAM circuit design by presenting both standard and high-speed implementations.
2
Memory Systems: Cache, DRAM, Disk
The book tells you everything you need to know about the logical design and operation, physical design and operation, performance characteristics and resulting design trade-offs, and the energy consumption of modern memory hierarchies.
Bruce Jacob, Spencer Ng, David Wang, 2010
3
L’Assommoir (The Drinking Den, or Dram Shop)
Widely acknowledged as one of Emile Zola’s masterpieces, «L’Assommoir» is a novel immersed in the harsh poverty and relief-giving alcoholism of working-class Paris in the nineteenth century.
4
Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram
As a native of Scotland, bestselling author Iain Banks has decided to undertake a tour of the distilleries of his homeland in a bid to uncover the unique spirit of the single malt.
Focuses on the Paris taverns, presenting a tragedy of working-class people in slums. The work was influenced by theories of heredity/experimental science.
Émile Zola, Robin Buss, 2000
6
In Search of a Dramatic Equilibrium: Was the Armenian Dram …
This papers estimates the equilibrium exchange rate for Armenia using three different approaches: the purchasing power parity (PPP) approach, the behavioral equilibrium exchange rate (BEER) approach, and the external sustainability (ES) …
Nienke Oomes, Vahram Stepanyan, Gohar Minasyan, 2009
A longtime bachelor finally marries—only to learn the corrosive power of jealousy For fifty-five years, Kenneth Gibson has lived in backwaters.
Charlotte Armstrong, 2012
8
DRAM circuit design: a tutorial
«DRAM Circuit Design» teaches readers the introductory level design of DRAM memory chips. It focuses on giving readers a reference that can be used to educate students or practicing design engineers in DRAM circuit design.
Brent Keeth, R. Jacob Baker, 2001
9
Drams and Dram Modules from Korea
2. DRAM Assembly Operations a. Parties’ Arguments Hynix argues that DRAMs
and DRAM modules containing DRAMs that are fabbed in the United States and
assembled in the United States should be considered domestic production, but …
10
DRAMS and DRAM Modules from Korea, Inv. 701-TA-431 (Section …
It does not indicate that changes in the rate of DRAM demand growth standing
alone can affect prices. Consequently, the record does not indicate that there is
any discernible correlation between changes in the rate of DRAM demand
growth, …
U.S. International Trade Commission
10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DRAM»
Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term dram is used in the context of the following news items.
Growth of DRAM Market at 13% CAGR, Mobile DRAM Trends and …
ReportsnReports.com adds offers 2015 DRAM market research reports on forecasts to 2019, mobile DRAM market trends and Micron’s development and … «PR Newswire, Jul 15»
Dram of Red out to impress again
Exciting two-year-old Dram of Red shocked his trainer Matt Dunn with his impressive winning debut but it will be a different story for his return to … «Bloodstock.com.au, Jul 15»
Voicing collective concerns as ‘DU Dram Soc’ members excites …
Like every year, many of them would also end up joining the much-revered Delhi University Theatre Circuit (DUTC), also known as ‘Dram Soc’, … «I am in dna of India, Jul 15»
A Dram of Recognition
Scotland’s Food Secretary Richard Lochhead has today (Sunday) said there is now a great opportunity for Scotland’s iconic whisky regions to … «Scotland Food and Drink, Jul 15»
Micron: DRAM Prices Keep Falling, Says Nomura; Here Comes …
Shares of DRAM and NAND chip maker Micron Technology (MU) declined 75 cents, or 4%, to close at $18.32, amidst continued worries about … «Barron’s, Jul 15»
Global DRAM module industry in 2014 saw 21% revenue growth
The latest DRAM module maker ranking by DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that the gross sales of the global DRAM module … «evertiq.com, Jul 15»
DRAM market to grow at a CAGR of 13.20% over the period 2015 …
Market Research Store has uploaded latest Report on «Global DRAM Market 2015-2019″ in their database, At Market Research Store, we have … «CSO Australia, Jul 15»
Kingston Leads DRAM Module Industry With 21% Revenue Growth
What’s impressive, according to DRAMeXchange, is that the top five manufacturers of DRAM modules account for 81% of the 2014 total gross … «Softpedia News, Jul 15»
Storage upstart: Our flashy gear is WAY faster than slow old DRAM
Levyx says its technology is able to deliver in-memory performance for a fraction of the investment in DRAM and data centre infrastructure. used … «The Register, Jul 15»
Meet the OMO, the Collective Behind Raury, DRAM & More
The curtain that lays over popular music has been slowly unraveling, and due to the nature of social media and analytics, the way that … «Billboard, Jul 15»
REFERENCE
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