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Added 9 October 2026

groom

/ɡɹuːm/ noun

In Latin: agāsō, equīsō Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about groom at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A man who is about to marry.

noun

A person who looks after horses.
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
A male servant, or more generally, a common man.

verb

To attend to one's appearance and clothing.
To care for (horses or other animals) by brushing and cleaning them.
To care for (horses or other animals) by feeding, currying and tending to them.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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