▪ I. groom, n.1
(gruːm)
Forms: 3–5 grom, 3–7 grome, 5–6 grume, 5–7 groome, (5 groyme, 6 growme, grum), 6– groom.
[Of difficult etymology. According to the evidence of the quots. ‘boy, male child’ seems to be the orig. sense. The word might conceivably represent an OE. *gróm, f. root *grô- of grow v. + Teut. suff. -mo-. But there is no trace of the word in any Teut. lang.; MDu. and mod.Du. have grom fry of fish, offspring, (jocularly) children; an unauthenticated sense ‘boy, child’ is given by the lexicographers Kilian (‘puer’), Mellema (‘enfant, marmouset’) and Hexham (‘stripling or groome’); but this does not correspond phonologically. The relation, if any, between the Eng. or the Du. word and OF. gromet grummet, is unascertained; but in AF. and Anglo-L. documents gromet and its latinized form grometus appear to be used for groom in the senses 3–5 below.
There appears to be no evidence for an OF. gromme; the grommes quoted by Du Cange is prob. for gromez pl. of gromet. The alleged ON. grómr or gromr ‘man’ has no other authority than its occurrence in the list of poetical appellations applicable to yeomen, in the 14th c. expansion of Snorra Edda (ed. 1848, II. 496) where it may be from ME.]
† 1. A man-child, boy. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 442 Hire meiden mei, þauh, techen sum lutel meiden, þet were dute of forto leornen among gromes. c 1300 Havelok 790 Ich am now no grom; Ich am wel waxen. c 1300 Beket 148 Tho he com he fond his sone a god goinge grom. c 1300 Proverbs Hending xxxii, He fareþ so doþ þe luþer grom þat men euer beteþ on wiþ one smerte ȝerde. a 1330 Syr Degarre 242 The holi man..fond the cradel in the stede, He tok up the clothes anon, And biheld the litel grom. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 980 (Kölbing) Sche childed a selcouþe grome. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 359 Kynde, i-hurt and defouled by wykkedness of lyuynge bryngeþ forþ..foule gromes and euel i-schape. 1675 Cotton Burlesque upon B. 146 To bring him Plums and Mackaroons, Which welcome are to such small Grooms. |
2. A man, male person; in the pastoral poetry of 16–17th c.
freq. applied to shepherds (
cf. herd-groom). Sometimes
contemptuous = ‘fellow’.
Obs. exc. arch.| c 1330 Florice & Bl. 1088 (Hausknecht), I..fond bi hire an naked grom..I þoȝte to habbe iqueld hem boþe. c 1340 Cursor M. 17609 (Laud) Loke we yern how me might do þat dowghty grome [Cott. gum, Gött., Trin. gome] Ioseph of Aramaty to vs to come. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. (Horstm.) 3986 Stondyng in an heyron þere, an horribull foull grome. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxx. 128, I had leuer go to rome; yei thryse, on my fete Then forto grefe yonde grome. c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 728 Mony groyme thai maid full sar agast. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 489, I-wys ȝe seye soth, ȝe grom of blysse. c 1510 Lytell geste of Robyn hode (W. de W.) i. 16 There was no ynch of his body But it was worthe a grome. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 67, I sau mony landuart grumis pas to the corne land to laubir there rustical occupatione. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) v. 15 In May gois gentill wemen gymmer, In gardynnis grene thair grumis to glaid. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. ii. 164 The fields are neere, and you are gallant Groomes. 1590 Greene Neuer too late Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 204 She was weary of the groomes [a shepherd] importunate fooleries. 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 12 A iolly groome was he, As ever piped on an oaten reed. 1603 Drayton Odes v. 2 Let no barbarous Groome How brave soe'r he bee, Attempt to enter. 1610 Fletcher Faithf. Shepherdess i. ii, The prime of our young Grooms, even the top Of all our lusty Shepherds! 1625 Lisle Du Bartas, Noe 1 The mighty Groome that led his flocke and heard From home to follow God, and sacrifiz'd his sonne. 1632 Heywood 2nd Pt. Iron Age v. i. Wks. 1874 III. 421 Can you find teares for such an abiect Groome, That had not for an husband one to shed? 1815 Wordsw. White Doe Rylst. i. 11 And, up among the moorlands, see What sprinklings of blithe company! Of lasses and of shepherd grooms. |
3. A man of inferior position; a serving-man; a man-servant; a male attendant.
Obs. exc. arch.| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2214 Me may yse a bondemannes sone..& some gromes squiers & suþþe kniȝtes some. 13.. K. Alis. 7282 Ageyn heom come bothe lord and grom, For to here what tidyng They broughte. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 234 Þai sett hem to mete anon, Erl, baroun, sweyn, and grom. c 1310 in Pol. Songs (Camd. 1839) 238 Gobelyn made is gerner Of gromene mawe. c 1340 Cursor M. 11610 (Laud) The gromys [Cott. suanis] tho bygan to cry. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame i. 206 That he shulde drenche Lorde and lady, grome and wenche Of al the Troian nacion. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 585/48 Garcio, a grome. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4559 Bathe grete man and grome. c 1450 Merlin 510 The gromes toke the palfreys and lepte up and rode into the foreste. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 909 Gromes of the kechin, uarletz de cuisin. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 128 You logger-headed and vnpollisht groomes, What? no attendance? 1605 ― Macb. ii. ii. 50 Goe carry them [daggers], and smeare The sleepie Groomes with blood. a 1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. ii. vii. (1642) 102 Maximinus, a Groome of base and sordid condition, borne of needy Parents. a 1654 Selden Table-T. (Arb.) 62 Then all the Company Dance, Lord and Groom, Lady and Kitchen-Maid, no distinction. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 627 Seated on a Rock, A Shepherd's Groom Surveys his Ev'ning Flocks returning Home. 1725 Pope Odyss. xx. 221 Two grooms assistant bore the victims bound. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xviii. 228 Your nephew's lands are parted between grooms and scullions. |
| fig. 1612 Donne Progr. Soul, 2nd Anniv. 85 Thinke then, my soule, that death is but a Groome Which brings a Taper to the outward roome. |
4. The specific designation of several officers of the English Royal Household, chiefly members of the Lord Chamberlain's department: with defining prepositional phrases, as
Groom of the (Privy, Great) Chamber,
G. of the Stole,
G. in waiting, etc.; also
† Groom of the Beds,
† G. of the Crossbows.
| 1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 159 Item, the same tyme..my mastyre to the gromys off chambre ffore reshis, xvj. d. 1502 Priv. Purse Exp. Eliz. of York (1830) 42 John Browne grome of the beddes. Ibid. 54 Elys Hilton grome of the robys. 1530 Privy Purse Exp. Hen. VIII (1827) 70 Giles grome of the Crosbowes. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. viii. (Arb.) 32 King Henry the 8...for a few Psalmes of Dauid turned into English meetre by Sternhold, made him groome of his priuy chamber. 1657 Wood Life Sept. (O.H.S.) I. 227 One of the gromes of the bed-chamber to K. Charles I. 1685 Evelyn Mrs. Godolphin (1847) 8 The late Countess of Guilford, Groome of the Stoole of the late Queens Mother. 1731 Gentl. Mag. I. 35 Edward Williams, Esq.; made Groom of his Majesty's removing Ward-robe. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 143 Lord Rochfort being Groom of the Stole to His Majesty. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby iv. vi, A groom of the chambers indicates the way to him. 1868 Pall Mall G. 23 July 5 Sir Henry was a Groom-in-Waiting to Her Majesty. |
5. A servant who attends to horses. (Until 17th c. only a contextual use of sense 3; now the current sense.)
| [1340 Ayenb. 210 [Huo] þet mest heþ hors mest him fayleþ gromes and stablen. 1553 Bale Vocacyon 26 b, An horse grome of his came into my court one daye. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius viii. 161 b, Thei..receiued the horses of the gromes of the stable. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. v. 72, I was a poore Groome of thy Stable (King) When thou wer't King.] 1667 Milton P.L. v. 356 Thir rich Retinue long Of Horses led, and Grooms besmeared with Gold. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Lady Rich 16 Mar., My grooms are Arabs; my footmen french. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 95 Like a slain deer, the tumbrel brings him home, Unmissed but by his dogs and by his groom. 1802 Wordsw. Sonn. to Liberty, ‘O Friend I know not’, Mean handywork of crafts⁓man, cook, Or groom. 1827 Lytton Pelham viii, His groom was walking about his favourite saddle-horse. 1859 Art Taming Horses ix. 150 It is a fact..that a man does not ride any better for dressing like a groom. |
6. Short for
bridegroom. (Rare except in context with
bride.)
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 180 Friends all..In Quarter, and in termes like Bride, and Groome, Deuesting them for Bed. 1611 ― Cymb. iii. vii. 70 Were you a woman, youth, I should woo hard, but be your Groome in honesty. 1700 Dryden Cymon & Iph. 540 By this the brides are waked, their grooms are dressed; All Rhodes is summoned to the nuptial feast. 1789 A. Seward Lett. (1811) II. 270 The bride and groom were so good as to call upon me. 1841 Browning Pippa Passes Introd. 50 What care bride and groom Save for their dear selves? 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Concl. 83 Drinking health to bride and groom We wish them store of happy days. |
7. attrib. and
Comb., appositive, as
groom-boy,
groom-falconer,
groom-fellow,
groom-garneter,
groom-purveyor;
† groom-grubber (
groom-grobber), an officer in the royal household (see
quots.).
| 1863 Kingsley Water-B. ii. 66 Among the lot was a little *groom-boy, a very little groom indeed. |
| 1826 Hor. Smith Tor Hill (1838) II. 82 The young *groom-falconer was out this morning with his goss-hawk. |
| 1823 Scott Peveril vi, There are two lackeys..besides the other *groom fellow. |
| a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 70 One *groome garnetour, to receive, to kepe, and to delyver the wheete comyng from the countries. |
| 1526 Ibid. 234 That he doe cause the *Groome-Grobber to looke dayly to drawing out the lees of the Wyne spent. 1601 Ibid. 284 Groom Grubber..His office is to see that the vessailes which come into the seller bee tight and full. |
| 1641 Negotiations Wolsey v. 11 Thirteene Pages, two yeomen Purveyours, and a *groome Purveyor. |
Hence (chiefly
nonce-wds.)
ˈgroomess, a female groom (of the stole).
ˈgroomish a., characteristic of a groom, like that of a groom; hence
ˈgroomishly adv. ˈgroomless a., having no groom.
ˈgroomlet,
ˈgroomling, a diminutive groom.
ˈgroomship, the office or condition of a groom.
| 1624 T. Scott 2nd Pt. Vox Populi 11, I sold moreouer, the place of *Groomesse of her highnesse Stoole, to six seuerall English Ladyes. |
| 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross (1898) I. 140 To smoke cigars, pick up a steeple⁓chaser, wear *groomish clothes. |
| 1836 New Monthly Mag. XLVIII. 458 The tiger, though more *groomishly attired, is not less scrupulously exact. |
| 1870 Disraeli Lothair xxviii, St. Aldegonde..was lounging about on a rough Scandinavian cob..listless and *groomless. |
| 1824–8 T. Hook Say. & Doings (1836) 165 (Hoppe) *Groomlet. |
| 1834 Beckford Italy II. 13 We were obliged to be escorted by grooms and *groomlings with candles and lanterns. 1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I am II. 230 The groomling in charge slumbered placidly in the bottom of the carriage, with the reins in his hands. |
| 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. (1721) II. 1036 Silas Titus..In the Year following [1679] did, with the consent of his Majesty, resign his *Gromeship. 1882 W. H. Grenfell in Standard 2 Nov. 5/5 If I had been honoured by the offer of a non-Parliamentary Groomship. |
▪ II. groom, n.2 dial. (
gruːm)
Also
grom.
[? A western variant of crome, cromb .] A forked stick used by thatchers.
| 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss., Grom or Groom, a forked stick used by thatchers for carrying the parcels of straw called helms. Wiltsh. 1847–89 in Halliwell. 1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd xxxvii, He had stuck his rick-rod, groom, or poignard into the stack. |
▪ III. groom, v. (
gruːm)
[f. groom n.1] 1. trans. To tend as a groom; to curry, feed, and generally attend to (a horse); to ‘fettle’.
| 1809 Malkin Gil Blas i. x. ¶1 We were obliged to groom them ourselves. 1847 Tennyson Princ. v. 446 She's yet a colt..strongly groom'd and straitly curb'd. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iv. 310 Ostlers quarrelled over such questions as they groomed their masters' horses. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 237 The Numidian horses..soon recovered their condition when they were groomed day by day with the old wine of Italian vintages. |
| absol. 1900 Blackw. Mag. Feb. 223/1 If he understands horses and can groom tolerably, he despises gardening. |
2. a. transf. To tend or attend to carefully; to give a neat, tidy, or ‘smart’ appearance to. Also
absol. in
to groom up.
| 1843 Haliburton Attaché I. ii. 26 Here was to clean and groom up agin' till all was in its right shape. 1859 Sat. Rev. VII. 363/2 The very chair you sit on has to be groomed. 1861 Our Eng. Home 86 He had to repair his own buskins, mend the tables, and groom my lady's chamber. 1879 J. Burroughs Locusts & W. Honey (1884) 125 Sometimes a few underclouds will be combed and groomed by the winds..as if for a race. |
b. fig. To prepare as a political candidate; in extended use, to prepare or coach for a career, a sporting contest, etc.
orig. U.S.| 1887 Courier-Jrnl. (Louisville, Ky.) 3 May 4/5, I learn that Sam Hill, of Hartford, is being groomed for the temporary chairmanship of the Convention. 1903 J. Hawthorne Hawthorne & his Circle 264 Grover Cleveland was being groomed for his first Presidential term. 1922 Wodehouse Clicking of Cuthbert v. 115 A man whom the committee were grooming for the amateur championship. 1955 Times 15 June 12/3 He did not agree that Professor Dent..had groomed him (the witness) to become president in order to keep out an ‘Iron Curtain’ delegate. 1957 Listener 19 Sept. 416/1 Committing the same mistake as Bismarck in not grooming his successor. 1959 Times 26 Aug. 4/1 Swetman has been groomed to succeed him [sc. Evans] in the Test matches. 1964 C. Chaplin Autobiogr. xxv. 435, I was surprised that Mr. Hoover should remember, because at the time he had seemed intensely preoccupied with grooming himself for the White House. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. 25/2 The Music Canada School in Montreal, which grooms pop musicians. |
3. pass. To be made a bridegroom.
nonce-use.
| 1824 Byron Juan xv. xxxix, It is an even chance That bridegrooms, after they are fairly groom'd, May retrograde a little in the dance Of marriage. |
Hence
groomed ppl. a. (chiefly qualified by
adv.),
ˈgrooming vbl. n.| 1813 Sporting Mag. XLII. 54 Feeding, grooming, trimming and managing of most descriptions of the horse. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xxviii, The Honourable Bob Staples daily repeats..his favourite original remark that she is the best-groomed woman in the whole stud. 1859 Jephson Brittany iii. 29 The grooming was wretched, and I could see some of the horses eating the straw. 1896 Edith Thompson in Monthly Packet Xmas No. 80 Radetzoff, with his..neatly trimmed moustache, smart and well-groomed. |
▸
trans. Of an animal: to clean the skin, hair, etc., of (another of its family or group). Also
refl.: to clean and tidy itself.
| 1902 Science 16 May 769 All these individuals [sc. ants] are carefully fed, groomed and guarded till fully mature and ready for the hymeneal flight. 1939 Amer. Naturalist 73 111 The behavior is..characteristic of the sexually mature individual [sc. a chimpanzee], who may groom another individual irrespective of age. 1966 Science 3 June 1403/2 There is no time for the mother to groom the young, and they apparently groom themselves. 1989 Jrnl. Zool. 219 54 The male grooms the rump of the female by gently nibbling her fur with his incisors. 2001 B. Dibra & E. Randolph CatSpeak vi. 107 If shed hairs are not removed on a regular basis, a cat will swallow them when she grooms herself and may form hairballs in her stomach. |
▸
trans. Of a paedophile: to befriend or influence (a child), now
esp. via the Internet, in preparation for future sexual abuse.
| 1985 Chicago Tribune 28 May v. 8/2 These ‘friendly molesters’ become acquainted with their targeted victim.., gaining their trust while secretly grooming the child as a sexual partner. 1996 A. Mullender Rethinking Domest. Violence vii. 200 Children have been ‘groomed’ by their abusers to associate abuse with apparently harmless topics that can continue to be mentioned in letters and cards. 2005 Big Issue 3 Jan. 18/2 While ‘stranger danger’ does exist—like internet chat-rooms where abusers groom children—sexual abuse often involves people intimate to the family or even within the family. |
▪ IV. groom obs. form of
grum a.