Etymograph

English

cram

Cram comes from Old English crammian ‘to cram’, from Proto-West Germanic *krammōn ‘to squeeze’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‘to assemble’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ger-1‘to assemble’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krimmaną1‘to stuff’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krammōną1‘to squeeze’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krammōn1‘to squeeze’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150crammian1‘to cram’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crammen1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1864cram1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cram
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1864, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: “It is awful, an old un like that telling…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ger-Wiktionary, English cram‘to assemble’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krimmanąWiktionary, English cram‘to stuff’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*krammōnąWiktionary, English cram‘to squeeze’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*krammōnWiktionary, English cram‘to squeeze’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150crammianWiktionary, English cram‘to cram’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500crammenWiktionary, English cram
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1864cramWiktionary, English cram. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1864, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: “It is awful, an old un like that telling…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‘to assemble’

creek, griffin, crotch, crouch, cripple, crate, crutch, crosse, crinkle, 9 more

Today it means

verb To press, force, or drive, particularly in filling, or in thrusting one thing into another; to stuff; to fill to superfluity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cram”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ger- / cram

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